PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE 
ROOSEVELT  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION 


II.  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR 


COMMITTEE  ON  PUBLICATIONS 
ROOSEVELT  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION  INC. 

R.  J.  CUDDIHY 

ARTHUR  W.  PAGE 

MARK  SULLIVAN 

E.  A.  VAN  VALKENBURG 


ROOSEVELT 

IN  THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR 

WAR-TIME  EDITORIALS 

BY 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

RALPH  STOUT 

Managing  Editor  of  The  Star 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

(Cfce  fiinersiDc  prestf  Cambrib0e 

1921 


COPYRIGHT,  1917,  1918,  AND  1919,  BY  THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR 
COPYRIGHT,  1921,  BY  RALPH  STOUT 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


PRINTED  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


I* 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION,  BY  RALPH  STOUT  xiii 

DR.  FITZSIMONS'S  DEATH,  SEPTEMBER  17,  1917  i 

BLOOD,  IRON,  AND  GOLD,  SEPTEMBER  23,  1917  2 
THE  GHOST  DANCE  OF  THE  SHADOW  HUNS,  OCTOBER  i, 

1917  5 

SAM  WELLER  AND  MR.  SNODGRASS,  OCTOBER  2,  1917  8 

BROOMSTICK  PREPAREDNESS,  OCTOBER  4,  1917  10 

THE  BONDHOLDERS  AND  THE  PEOPLE,  OCTOBER  7,  1917  12 

FACTORIES  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP,  OCTOBER  10,  1917  13 

PILLAR -OF-SALT  CITIZENSHIP,  OCTOBER  12,  1917  16 

BROOMSTICK  APOLOGISTS,  OCTOBER  14,  1917  18 
THE  LIBERTY  LOAN  AND  THE  PRO-GERMANS,  OCTOBER 

16,  1917  20 

A  DIFFICULT  QUESTION  TO  ANSWER,  OCTOBER  18,  1917  23 

Now  HELP  THE  LIBERTY  LOAN,  OCTOBER  20,  1917  25 
A  SQUARE  DEAL  FOR  THE  TRAINING  CAMPS,  OCTOBER  21, 

1917  26 
THE  PASSING  OF  THE  CRIPPLE,  OCTOBER  23,  1917  28 
THE  PEACE  OF  COMPLETE  VICTORY,  OCTOBER  23,  1917  30 
FIGHTING  WORK  FOR  THE  MAN  OF  FIGHTING  AGE,  OCTO 
BER  25,  1917  32 
WISE  WOMEN  AND  FOOLISH  WOMEN,  OCTOBER  27,  1917  34 
WHY  CRY  OVER  SPILT  MILK?  OCTOBER  28,  1917  36 
SAVE  THE  FOODSTUFF,  OCTOBER  30,  1917  38 
ON  THE  FIRING  LINE,  OCTOBER  31,  1917  40 
NINE  TENTHS  OF  WISDOM  is  BEING  WISE  IN  TIME,  NO 
VEMBER  i,  1917  42 
WE  ARE  IN  THIS  WAR  TO  THE  FINISH,  NOVEMBER  2, 1917  43 
SINISTER  ALLIES,  NOVEMBER  3,  1917  45 


vi  CONTENTS 

THE  NEW  YORK  MAYORALTY  ELECTION,  NOVEMBER  8, 

1917  47 

GERMAN  HATRED  OF  AMERICA,  NOVEMBER  13,  1917  49 

START  THE  SYSTEM  OF  UNIVERSAL  MILITARY  TRAINING 

AT  ONCE,  NOVEMBER  17,  1917  52 

A  FIFTY-FIFTY  WAR  ATTITUDE,  NOVEMBER  20,  1917  54 

THE  GERMANIZED  SOCIALISTS  AND  PEACE,  NOVEMBER 

26,  1917  56 

MOBILIZE  OUR  MAN  POWER,  DECEMBER  i,  1917  58 
THE  LANDSDOWNE  LETTER,  DECEMBER  2,  1917  60 
THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE,  DECEMBER  5,  1917  62 
FOUR  BITES  OF  A  CHERRY,  DECEMBER  7,  1917  64 
THE  RED  CROSS  CHRISTMAS  MEMBERSHIP  DRIVE,  DE 
CEMBER  12,  1917  66 
BEING  BRAYED  IN  A  MORTAR,  DECEMBER  18,  1917  68 
RENDERING  A  GREAT  PUBLIC  SERVICE,  DECEMBER  20, 

1917  71 
A  BETRAYAL  OF  DEMOCRACY,  DECEMBER  21,  1917  73 
BROOMSTICK  PREPAREDNESS  —  A  STUDY  IN  CAUSE  AND 

EFFECT,  DECEMBER  27,  1917  76 

OUR  DUTY  FOR  THE  NEW  YEAR,  JANUARY  i,  1918  78 
TELL  THE  TRUTH  AND  SPEED  UP  THE  WAR,  JANUARY  4, 

1918  80 
THE  COST  OF  UNPREPAREDNESS,  JANUARY  6,  1918  82 
COOPERATION  AND  CONTROL,  JANUARY  8,  1918  85 
THE  ARTEMUS  WARD  THEORY  OF  WAR,  JANUARY  17, 1918  87 
THE  FRUITS  OF  WATCHFUL  WAITING,  JANUARY  18,  1918  89 
TELL  THE  TRUTH,  JANUARY  21,  1918  92 
JUSTIFICATION  OF  CONSTRUCTIVE  CRITICISM,  JANUARY 

28,  1918  93 
SECRETARY  BAKER'S  GENERAL  DENIAL,  FEBRUARY  2, 

1918  96 


CONTENTS  vii 

LET  GEORGE  SPEED  UP  THE  WAR,  FEBRUARY  3,  1918  98 
LET  UNCLE  SAM  GET  INTO  THE  GAME,  FEBRUARY  5,  1918  101 
CONSERVATION  is  IMPORTANT  AND  PRODUCTION  is  MORE 

IMPORTANT,  FEBRUARY  15,  1918  103 

THE  PEOPLE'S  WAR,  FEBRUARY  26,  1918  105 

THE  FRUITS  OF  FIFTY-FIFTY  LOYALTY,  MARCH  2,  1918  109 
QUIT  TALKING  PEACE,  MARCH  5,  1918  in 

THE  WORST  ENEMIES  OF  CERTAIN  LOYAL  AMERICANS, 

MARCH  10,  1918  113 

GIRD  UP  OUR  LOINS,  MARCH  16,  1918  115 

BOLSHEVIKI  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD,  MARCH  19,  1918  117 
THE  FRUITS  OF  OUR  DELAY,  MARCH  26,  1918  120 

How  THE  HUN  EARNS  HIS  TITLE,  MARCH  31,  1918  122 

THANK  HEAVEN!  APRIL  2,  1918  128 

CITIZENS  OR  SUBJECTS?  APRIL  6,  1918  129 

WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR,  APRIL  12,  1918  133 

To  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS  OF  GERMAN  BLOOD,  APRIL 

16,  1918  J35 

AN  EXTRAORDINARY  ACHIEVEMENT  IN  HUMAN  UPBUILD 
ING,  APRIL  17,  1918 
FREEDOM  STANDS  WITH  HER  BACK  TO  THE  WALL,  APRIL 

20,  1918 

A  SQUARE  DEAL  FOR  ALL  AMERICANS,  APRIL  27,  1918  142 
THE  GERMAN  HORROR,  MAY  2,  1918  145 

SEDITION,  A  FREE  PRESS,  AND  PERSONAL  RULE,  MAY  7, 

1918  147 

THE  DANGERS  or  A  PREMATURE  PEACE,  MAY  12,  1918  150 
THE  WAR  SAVINGS  CAMPAIGN,  MAY  27,  1918  155 

ANTI-BOLSHEVISM,  JUNE  5,  1918  I58 

GENERAL  WOOD,  JUNE  15,  1918  160 

HELP  RUSSIA  Now,  JUNE  20,  1918  162 


viii  CONTENTS 

AN  AMERICAN  FOURTH  OF  JULY,  JUNE  23,  1918  166 

How  NOT  TO  ADJOURN  POLITICS,  JUNE  25,  1918  167 

HATS  OFF  TO  THE  INTERNATIONAL  TYPOGRAPHICAL 
UNION,  JUNE  27,  1918  170 

THE  PERFORMANCE  OF  A  GREAT  PUBLIC  DUTY,  JULY  3, 
1918  172 

REPEAL  THE  CHARTER  OF  THE  GERMAN-AMERICAN  ALLI 
ANCE,  JULY  n,  1918  174 

EVERY  MAN  HAS  A  RIGHT  TO  ONE  COUNTRY,  JULY  15, 
1918  177 

MURDER,  TREASON,  AND  PARLOR  ANARCHY,  JULY  18, 
1918  180 

BACK  UP  THE  FIGHTING  MEN  AT  THE  FRONT,  JULY  26, 
1918  183 

THE  AMERICANS  WHOM  WE  MOST  DELIGHT  TO  HONOR, 
AUGUST  i,  1918  186 

SOUND  NATIONALISM  AND  SOUND  INTERNATIONALISM, 
AUGUST  4,  1918  188 

THE  MAN  WHO  PAYS  AND  THE  MAN  WHO  PROFITS,  AU 
GUST  9,  1918  196 

OUR  DEBT  TO  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE,  AUGUST  16,  1918      200 

THE  CANDIDACY  OF  HENRY  FORD,  AUGUST  20,  1918         202 

SPEED  UP  THE  WORK  FOR  THE  ARMY  AND  GIVE  ALL  WHO 

ENTER  IT  FAIR  PLAY,  AUGUST  23,  1918  206 

SENATOR  LODGE'S  NOBLE  SPEECH,  SEPTEMBER  i,  1918  209 
APPLIED  PATRIOTISM,  SEPTEMBER  8,  1918  211 

GOOD  LUCK  TO  THE  ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS  OF  KANSAS,  SEP 
TEMBER  12,  1918  213 
THE  FOURTH  LIBERTY  LOAN,  SEPTEMBER  17,  1918  216 
FAIR  PLAY  AND  No  POLITICS,  SEPTEMBER  20,  1918  218 
SPIES  AND  SLACKERS,  SEPTEMBER  24,  1918  221 
QUIT  PLAYING  FAVORITES,  SEPTEMBER  30,  1918  224 
AIMS  AND  PEACE  PROPOSALS,  OCTOBER  12,  1918  226 


CONTENTS  ix 

PERMANENT  PREPAREDNESS  AND  THE  LEAGUE  OF  NA 
TIONS,  OCTOBER  15,  1918  229 
HIGH-SOUNDING  PHRASES  OF  MUDDY  MEANING,  OCTO 
BER  17,  1918                                                                  231 
AN  AMERICAN  PEACE  versus  A  RUBBER-STAMP  PEACE, 

OCTOBER  22,  1918  236 

UNCONDITIONAL  SURRENDER,  OCTOBER  26,  1918  239 

WHAT  ARE  THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS?  OCTOBER  30,  1918     241 
FURTHER  CONSIDERATION  OF  THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS, 

OCTOBER  30,  1918  243 

FOURTEEN  SCRAPS  OF  PAPER,  OCTOBER  31,  1918  248 

THE  TURKS  SURRENDER  UNCONDITIONALLY,  NOVEMBER 

3,  1918  251 

PEACE,  NOVEMBER  12,  1918  253 

SACRIFICE  ON  COLD  ALTARS,  NOVEMBER  13,  1918  255 

THE  RED  FLAG  AND  THE  HUN  PEACE  DRIVE,  NOVEMBER 

14,  1918  258 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS,  NOVEMBER  17,  1918  261 

AN  AMERICAN  CONGRESS,  NOVEMBER  18,  1918  265 

THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  SEAS  AND  THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF 

MANKIND,  NOVEMBER  22,  1918  269 

PRESIDENT  WILSON  AND  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE,  NO 
VEMBER  26, 1918  272 
THE  LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE,  DECEMBER  2,  1918      277 
THE  MEN  WHOSE  LOT  HAS  BEEN  HARDEST,  DECEMBER  8, 

1918  281 

THE  BRITISH  NAVY,  THE  FRENCH  ARMY,  AND  AMERICAN 

COMMON  SENSE,  DECEMBER  17,  1918  283 

LET  us  HAVE  STRAIGHTFORWARD  SPEAKING,  DECEMBER 

24,  1918  287 

A  SQUARE  DEAL  FOR  THE  MEN  AT  THE  FRONT,  DECEM 
BER  25,  1918  289 
THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS,  JANUARY  13,  1919  292 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  AND  W.  R.  NELSON 

From  a  snapshot  Photogravure  Frontispiece 

FACSIMILE  OF  A  NOTE  FROM  ROOSEVELT  TO  W.  R. 

NELSON  xxii 

FACSIMILE  OF  A  PAGE  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT  OF  ONE  OF 

ROOSEVELT'S  EDITORIALS  2 


INTRODUCTION 

I 

THE  request,  repeated  and  urgent,  has  come  from 
many  sources  that  the  editorial  articles,  contributed 
by  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  to  The  Kansas  City 
Star  during  our  country's  participation  in  the  World 
War,  be  preserved  for  the  future.  It  is  in  response  to 
this  request  that  this  volume  is  published. 

Newspaper  publication  is  ephemeral.  Newspaper 
files  are  short-lived.  Anybody  who  has  examined  a 
newspaper  of  thirty  years  ago  knows  how  flimsy  it 
is,  how  it  breaks  and  disintegrates  to  the  touch.  It 
lacks  the  enduring  quality  of  the  newspaper  of  sixty 
or  seventy-five  years  ago  when  other  elements  en 
tered  into  the  composition  of  news-print  paper. 
Newspaper  publication  is  the  thought  of  to-day;  to 
morrow,  it  is  gone  save  for  the  impression  left  on 
the  mind  of  the  reader.  That  the  recollection  of 
Colonel  Roosevelt's  articles  may  have  something  to 
appeal  to  aside  from  crumbling  newspaper  files  is  the 
aim  of  this  book.  And  so  these  expressions  on  the 
events  in  a  crisis  in  our  national  history  —  from  the 
mind  of  a  man  whose  intense  love  of  country  was  the 
admiration  of  all  who  knew  him,  expressions  which 
at  the  time  of  their  publication  stirred  many  to 
greater  sacrifice  for  country,  some  to  anger,  even  to 
rage  —  are  here  presented  in  enduring  form. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  contributions  to  The  Star 
were  his  most  frequent  expressions  on  the  war;  they 
were  the  outpouring  of  a  great  soul  deeply  stirred  by 
the  country's  situation.  There  were  more  than  one 
hundred  articles  from  his  pen.  They  covered  the 
vital  time  of  our  part  in  the  war  from  October,  1917, 
until  his  death  January  6,  1919. 

The  reason  he  chose  The  Star  as  his  medium  of 
reaching  the  people,  in  a  period  when  a  large  section 
of  the  American  people  sought  and  was  guided  by 
what  he  said,  was  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  The 
Star  had  known  and  understood  each  other  for  a 
long,  long  time.  Their  acquaintance  dated  back  to 
the  period  of  his  service  in  the  New  York  legislature. 
The  Star  saw  behind  his  conduct  then  the  qualities 
and  the  spirit  which  it  was  continually  seeking  to 
place  at  a  premium  in  offices  of  public  trust. 

Later,  in  1889,  when  President  Harrison  appointed 
him  a  civil  service  commissioner,  The  Star  said : 

The  appointment  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  one  of  the  civil 
service  commissioners  is  a  hopeful  sign  that  President  Harri 
son  desires  to  give  civil  service  reform  a  fair  representation  in 
the  government.  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  an  accomplished  gentle 
man,  with  sincere  aspirations  for  reformed  methods  of  admin 
istration,  as  shown  by  his  career  in  the  New  York  legislature 
when  Grover  Cleveland  was  governor.  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  too 
independent  ever  to  serve  as  a  party  henchman,  and  his  voice 
and  influence  will  always  be  in  favor  of  what  he  believes  to  be 
the  most  efficient  and  business-like  administration  of  affairs. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  the  founder  and  editor  of 
The  Star,  the  late  William  R.  Nelson,  had  met,  but 
they  did  not  really  know  each  other  until  after  the 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

war  with  Spain.  In  his  canvass  for  the  vice-presi 
dency  in  1900  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  entertained  at 
the  Nelson  home,  Oak  Hall,  Kansas  City.  From  this 
visit  dated  better  acquaintance.  They  had  much  in 
common  and  were  alike  in  many  characteristics: 
frank,  outspoken,  impulsive,  and  passionately  de 
voted  to  the  same  ideals  of  private  life  and  public 
service. 

I  recall  a  story  of  an  impulsive  act  of  Colonel 
Roosevelt  back  in  his  ranchman  days.  A  man  of 
shady  reputation  had  been  appointed  Indian  Agent 
with  the  Sioux  on  a  Dakota  reservation.  He  put  into 
effect  many  sharp  practices  with  the  Indians  which 
would  line  his  pockets  with  money.  Roosevelt's 
ranch  was  not  far  away  and  ranch  affairs  took  him  to 
the  agency.  One  day  he  went  to  the  agency  and 
sought  the  agent.  * 

"  You  are  Mr. ?  "  the  ranchman  asked. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  have  heard  what  you  have  been  doing  with  the 
Indians.  You  are  a  thief!  Good-day!  " 

The  story,  as  told,  was  that  the  agent,  aghast  at 
the  boldness  of  his  visitor,  turned  and  walked  away. 

The  late  Curtis  Guild,  Jr.,  of  Boston,  and  Senator 
Beveridge,  of  Indiana,  were  with  Colonel  Roosevelt 
on  the  Oak  Hall  visit.  They  found  delight  in  the 
paintings  and  books  in  Mr.  Nelson's  home  and 
Colonel  Roosevelt  gave  proof  of  his  wide  range  of 
knowledge  by  his  instant  recognition  of  the  work  of 
painters  of  long-established  reputation.  In  his  in 
spection  of  the  library  he  asked  to  see  what  Mr. 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

Nelson  had  on  the  Greek  dramatists.  "  I  always  ask 
for  them  in  a  man's  library,"  he  remarked. 

During  this  visit  I  was  a  listener  at  an  argument 
between  the  two  men  on  partisanship.  Mr.  Nelson 
had  in  his  early  days  affiliated  with  the  Democratic 
Party.  In  1876  he  was  Mr.  Tilden's  personal  man 
ager  in  Indiana.  But  with  the  party's  treatment  of 
Tilden  Mr.  Nelson  lost  partisan  zeal,  and  never  after 
could  he  be  considered  a  party  man.  He  founded 
The  Star  in  1880  as  an  independent  newspaper;  it 
has  remained  an  independent  newspaper. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  argument  was,  that  to  accom 
plish  anything  in  public  affairs  a  man  or  a  newspaper 
had  to  belong  to  a  party  organization.  He  probably 
had  in  mind  his  experience  in  the  Elaine  campaign 
of  1884.  His  conclusion  was  that  the  American 
people  were  wedded  to  the  two-party  system  and 
that  one  who  aspired  to  do  anything  for  the  country 
could  achieve  only  by  working  through  a  party 
organization. 

Mr.  Nelson  granted  what  he  said  was  true  as  to 
an  individual,  but  not  as  to  a  newspaper  of  the  right 
sort.  It  was  perhaps  true  as  to  a  newspaper  which 
had  as  one  of  its  aims  the  securing  of  political  honor 
for  its  owner,  but  the  newspaper  sincerely  devoted  to 
the  public  interest  could  wield  greater  power  by 
retaining  its  independence  and  in  the  end  could  ac 
complish  more  substantial  achievements,  a  state 
ment  verified  by  his  own  conduct  of  The  Star.  Colo 
nel  Roosevelt  saw  the  force  of  Mr.  Nelson's  conten 
tion,  but  stuck  to  his  point  that,  with  an  individual, 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

accomplishment  outside  of  party  ranks  was  im 
possible. 

It  is  interesting  to  look  back  over  the  growth  of 
the  mutual  understanding  and  the  fondness  of  the 
two  men  for  each  other  dating  from  that  visit  in 
1900.  After  leaving  Kansas  City,  Colonel  Roosevelt 
sent  back  a  letter  expressing  his  delight  at  the  day 
spent  at  Oak  Hall,  closing  with  "  How  I  do  wish  I 
could  spend  the  week  in  your  library  instead  of  upon 
this  infernal  campaigning  trip!  " 

When  the  assassin's  bullet  struck  down  President 
McKinley,  Mr.  Nelson  sent  a  telegram  to  Colonel 
Roosevelt  expressing  his  horror  at  the  deed  and 
pledging  the  whole-hearted  support  of  his  newspaper 
in  aiding  him  to  carry  the  great  burden  which  had 
been  placed  on  his  shoulders. 

Mr.  Nelson  had  no  wish  to  be  a  distributor  of  federal 
patronage ;  he  was  concerned  in  higher  things.  When 
Colonel  Roosevelt  turned  to  him  for  advice  on  polit 
ical  matters,  he  was  reluctant  to  give  it,  feeling  his 
own  lack  of  real  knowledge  of  the  politics  of  Kansas 
and  Missouri  and  of  the  men  who  sought  appoint 
ments.  Late  in  1901  Colonel  Roosevelt,  asking 
about  conditions  in  Missouri,  wrote,  referring  to  St. 
Louis  men,  "  I  think  they  have  been  rather  after 
the  offices  and  not  after  success.  ...  I  should  like 
to  have  some  office-holder  in  Missouri  to  whom  I 
could  tie.'* 

Mr.  Nelson  asked  the  political  writers  of  The  Star 
to  write  their  estimate  of  the  men  seeking  office  and 
leadership,  and  these  were  sent  to  the  President 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

with  his  endorsement.  The  President  repeatedly 
followed  the  ideas  of  these  letters,  and  it  is  a  pleas 
ure  to  record  that  in  no  instance  was  there  subse 
quently  cause  for  regret  for  any  selection  based  on 
the  letters. 

In  1908  the  President's  appointment  of  the  Farm 
Life  Commission  received  Mr.  Nelson's  commenda 
tion,  for  he  had  long  recognized  the  need  of  making 
farm  life  more  attractive;  indeed,  he  would  have 
financed  experiments  along  this  line  had  he  been 
younger.  At  the  same  time  Mr.  Nelson  spoke  ap 
provingly  of  the  President's  recent  comment  on  the 
courts,  adding,  "  Courts  need  such  criticism  the 
worst  kind.  They  steadily  undermine  confidence  in 
law  and  legal  justice." 

[<  I  am  sick  at  heart, "  the  President  replied,  "  over 
the  way  in  which  the  courts  have  been  prostituting 
justice  in  the  last  few  years.  The  greatest  trouble 
will  follow  if  they  do  not  alter  their  present  attitude. 
I  suppose  I  shall '  pay  '  myself  in  some  way  for  what 
I  have  said  about  the  courts,  but  I  have  got  to  take 
the  risk." 

In  1909,  in  the  closing  days  of  the  Roosevelt  Ad 
ministration  the  President  issued  an  executive  order 
looking  to  a  quick  settlement  of  a  long-pending  con 
troversy  over  the  channel  of  the  Kaw  River  at  Kan 
sas  City.  It  was  unexpected;  indeed,  few  in  Kansas 
City  knew  that  the  President  was  considering  the 
subject.  The  order  cut  straight  to  the  heart  of  the 
controversy  in  true  Roosevelt  fashion.  The  same 
day  Mr.  Nelson  sent  this  telegram  to  the  President: 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

It  is  quite  worth  while  to  have  a  real  President  of  the 
United  States. 

The  next  day  this  reply  came  from  the  President: 

It  is  even  better  worth  while  to  have  a  real  editor  of  just 
the  right  kind  of  paper. 


II 

The  Star  supported  Taft  in  the  campaign  of  1908 
because  it  had  faith  that  he  would  carry  out  the 
Roosevelt  policies.  Events  early  in  the  Taft  Admin 
istration  weakened  that  faith;  the  Winona  speech 
withered  it.  Mr.  Nelson  had  had  no  correspondence 
with  Colonel  Roosevelt  while  he  was  hunting  in 
Africa.  Two  letters  came  from  the  ex- President,  one 
March  12,  1910,  from  the  White  Nile  saying  he 
expected  to  return  in  June;  another  from  Porto 
Maurizio,  a  month  later,  saying,  "  I  know  you  will 
understand  how  delicate  my  position  is,"  and  asking 
for  an  early  conference  with  Mr.  Nelson  on  his  return 
to  this  country.  Mr.  Nelson's  final,  open  break  with 
President  Taft  was  "  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger  " ; 
there  was  never  bitterness  of  feeling,  solely  regret  at 
a  mistake  in  believing  Mr.  Taft  stood  for  principles 
which  events  early  in  his  administration  showed  con 
vincingly  he  did  not  stand  for. 

Writing  to  Colonel  Roosevelt,  in  1910,  after  his 
return  from  Africa,  Mr.  Nelson  referred  to  the  Wi 
nona  speech  and  the  Ballinger  case,  concluding:  "  I 
have  wondered  whether  sooner  or  later  there  would 
not  have  to  be  a  new  party  of  the  Square  Deal." 


xx  INTRODUCTION 

The  succeeding  two  years  there  were  frequent  con 
ferences  and  interchange  of  letters  between  Colonel 
Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Nelson.  The  latter  had  absolute 
confidence  and  abiding  faith  in  Roosevelt.  Late  in 
1910  the  Colonel's  enemies  were  seeking  to  torment 
him  from  many  angles.  Mr.  Nelson  wrote  him : 

It  has  occurred  to  me  that  the  opposition  will  constantly 
be  prodding  you  and  lying  about  you  with  the  evident  pur 
pose  of  getting  you  angry  and  so  putting  you  to  a  disad 
vantage.  That  is  the  only  hope  on  earth  they  have  of  stop 
ping  you. 

Your  comment  on  Wm.  Barnes  was  fine.  It  recalled  to  me 
an  incident  connected  with  Governor  Tilden,  who  was  the 
wisest  politician  I  ever  knew.  As  a  young  man  I  was  his  man 
ager  in  Indiana.  After  the  defeat  of  Lucius  Robinson,  whom 
he  was  backing  for  Governor  of  New  York,  I  went  East  at 
his  invitation  to  confer  with  him.  He  asked  me  to  see  Kelly, 
Clarkson,  Potter,  Dorsheimer,  and  Sam  Cox,  and  some  of  the 
other  men  who  had  been  fighting  him,  to  get  their  views. 
"  What  shall  1  tell  them  about  your  position  if  they  ask  me?" 
I  said.  "  Oh,  tell  them,"  he  said,  "  that  I  am  very  amiable." 
In  my  adventures  since  that  time  I  have  often  had  occasion 
to  remember  that  as  sound  advice.  Amiability  is  a  great 
weapon  at  times. 

But  my  point  is  that  you  never  need  to  defend  yourself  at 
all.  The  people  will  take  care  of  your  defense.  Besides,  it  is 
always  a  bad  policy,  in  my  opinion,  to  get  to  talking  about 
the  past.  You  are  a  Progressive.  Your  nose  is  to  the  front. 
The  past  doesn't  interest  you.  So  I  hope  you  will  ignore  the 
critics,  no  matter  how  exasperating  they  may  be.  And  if  you 
can't  ignore  them,  laugh  at  them! 

To  this  the  Colonel  replied : 

I  guess  you  are  right;  but  it  does  make  me  flame  with  in 
dignation  when  men  who  pretend  to  be  especially  the  cus 
todians  of  morals,  and  who  sit  in  judgment  from  an  Olympian 
height  of  virtue  on  the  deeds  of  other  men,  themselves  ofi'end 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

in  a  way  that  puts  them  on  a  level  with  the  most  corrupt 

scoundrel  in  a  city  government 

But  this  does  not  alter  the  fact  that,  as  you  say,  my  busi 
ness  is  to  pay  no  heed  to  the  slanders  of  the  past,  but  to  keep 
my  face  steadily  turned  toward  the  future.  Here  in  New  York 
the  outlook  is  rather  dark.  There  are  a  great  multitude  of 
men,  some  of  them  nominally  respectable,  but  timid  or  mis 
led,  who  do  certainly,  although  rather  feebly,  object  to  the 
domination  of  Barnes  and  his  fellow  bosses;  but  who  do  sin 
cerely,  but  rather  feebly,  prefer  clean  politics  to  corrupt 
politics;  but  who,  nevertheless,  dread  any  interference  with 
what  they  regard  as  the  rights  of  big  business,  any  assault  on 
what  I  regard  as  an  improperly  arranged  tariff,  any  effort  to 
work  for  the  betterment  of  social  conditions  in  the  spirit  of 
Abraham  Lincoln;  who  regard  all  assaults  and  efforts  of  this 
nature  as  being  worse  than  the  rule  of  small  bosses  and  the 
petty  corruption  of  local  politicians. 

Ill 

As  the  presidential  campaign  of  1912  developed, 
there  were  frequent  exchanges  of  views.  In  May 
Colonel  Roosevelt  wrote  that  he  was  confident  of 
victory  in  the  Republican  Convention  in  spite  of  all 
that  was  being  done  against  him  by  the  men  in  con 
trol  of  the  party.  Only  those  who  were  in  the  thick 
of  the  Republican  Convention  in  Chicago  in  June 
realize  how  the  fighting  blood  of  the  men  on  the 
progressive  side,  from  the  leader  down,  was  aroused. 
Mr.  Nelson  was  at  Chicago  during  the  Republican 
Convention.  Colonel  Roosevelt  sought  his  advice 
throughout.  The  course  which  was  ultimately  fol 
lowed  had  Mr.  Nelson's  full  approval.  In  a  telegram 
to  Colonel  Roosevelt  after  the  break  from  the 
Republican  Party,  Mr.  Nelson  said:  "  I  am  with 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

you  tooth  and  nail,  to  the  limit  and  to  the  finish." 
Following  those  vivid  days  and  nights  of  the  Re 
publican  Convention  —  a  period  no  active  partici 
pant  can  ever  erase  from  his  memory  —  came  the 
Orchestra  Hall  meeting,  the  first  definite  step  to 
organize  the  Progressive  Party,  the  National  Pro 
gressive  Party  Convention  in  August,  and  then  the 
memorable  three-party  campaign. 

In  the  midst  of  the  campaign  Mr.  Nelson  and  the 
Colonel  had  the  time  and  inclination  to  carry  on  a 
correspondence  on  things  not  directly  touching  the 
issues  on  which  the  fight  was  made.  In  a  letter  from 
his  summer  home  at  Magnolia,  Massachusetts,  Mr. 
Nelson  dropped  into  a  discussion  of  what  he  called 
his  two  hobbies  —  to  drive  money  out  of  the  voting 
booth  and  out  of  the  courthouse.  His  idea  was  that 
all  legitimate  expenses  of  candidates  for  office  should 
be  paid  by  the  State,  and  that  there  should  be  a  re 
form  of  the  voting  system  which  would  avoid  the 
necessity  of  party  organization  to  get  out  the  vote. 
Having  the  vote  taken  by  letter  carriers  was  one 
way  that  appealed  to  him.  He  would  make  justice 
free,  "  not  for  sale  as  it  is  to-day  when  the  rich  man 
gets  the  best  lawyers."  Lawyers  should  be  officers 
of  the  court  in  fact  as  well  as  in  theory,  and  should 
be  compensated  for  their  work  by  the  State,  not  by 
the  litigants. 

Replying  to  this  letter  late  in  July,  Colonel  Roose 
velt  said: 

I  am  with  you  in  principle  on  both  the  points  you  raise.  I 
am  with  you  on  the  question  of  the  State  paying  the  election 


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INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

expenses  right  away  now.  I  have  always  stood  for  that  course 
as  the  only  one  to  give  the  poor  man  a  fair  chance  in  politics. 
Your  other  idea  is  new,  but  I  have  long  been  feeling  my 
way  to  the  same  conclusion.  A  lawyer  is  not  like  a  doctor. 
No  real  good  for  the  community  comes  from  the  development 
of  legalism,  from  the  development  of  that  kind  of  ability 
shown  by  the  great  corporation  lawyers  who  lead  our  bar; 
whereas  good  does  come  from  medical  development.  The 
high-priced  lawyer  means,  when  reduced  to  his  simplest  ex 
pression,  that  justice  tends  to  go  to  the  man  with  the  longest 
purse.  But  the  proposal  is  such  a  radical  one  that  I  do  not 
know  how  it  would  be  greeted,  and  it  is  something  we  will 
have  to  fight  for  later. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

Late  in  September,  during  a  campaign  tour  of  the 
West,  Colonel  Roosevelt  spent  a  Sunday  evening  at 
Oak  Hall.  The  subject  of  campaign  contributions 
came  up,  and  the  candidate  became  reminiscent, 
recounting  his  first  experience  as  governor  of  New 
York  with  campaign  contributions.  It  was  an  in 
cident,  he  said,  that  might  readily  be  misconstrued 
and  so  he  had  not  discussed  it  publicly. 

Soon  after  he  was  elected  governor  of  New  York, 
he  had  discovered  that  the  street  railways  were  pay 
ing  almost  no  taxes.  Accordingly  he  took  steps  to 
introduce  a  franchise  tax  bill  into  the  legislature. 
Mr.  Odell  at  once  came  to  him  and  told  him  that 
he  was  following  in  the  footsteps  of  Bryan  and 
" Potato"  Pingree,  which  was  the  most  severe 
condemnation  at  that  time.  That  warning  having 
no  effect,  Mr.  Platt  came  to  him  and  said,  "  Gov 
ernor,  you  can't  do  this.  Don't  you  know  that  the 
Whitney- Ryan  combination  was  one  of  the  heaviest 
contributors  to  your  campaign  fund?  " 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION 

"  The  deuce  they  were,"  said  Roosevelt;  "  I  sup 
posed  they  made  their  contributions  to  Tammany." 

"  Of  course,"  Platt  returned,  "  they  contributed 
to  Tammany,  but  they  gave  us  just  half  as  much  as 
they  did  Tammany.  If  they  had  n't  expected  fair 
treatment  from  us  they  would  have  given  it  all  to 
Tammany." 

"  I  told  Platt  they  would  get  fair  treatment  from 
us,"  Roosevelt  said,  in  telling  the  story,  "  but  if 
they  expected  immunity  from  taxation  they  were 
going  to  be  left." 

At  that  time  the  Whitney-Ryan  combination 
owned  the  New  York  street  railways  and  so  were 
going  to  be  hard  hit  by  the  franchise  tax.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  added  that  the  franchise  tax  bill  went 
through  and  created  quite  a  scandal  in  high  finance 
at  that  time.  "  Everybody  was  talking  about  it,"  he 
said,  "  and  all  the  big  financiers  knew  about  it.  So  I 
never  could  have  any  sympathy  with  the  view  that 
Harriman  or  the  Standard  Oil  people  —  if  they 
really  contributed  to  my  campaign  fund  —  or  any 
other  interest  of  that  sort  gave  any  money  for  cam 
paign  purposes  under  a  misapprehension.  They 
knew  from  my  deeds  as  well  as  my  words  that  they 
could  not  buy  immunity  from  me,  and  that  the  best 
they  could  expect  was  a  square  deal.  I  said  one 
time  to  Bacon,  '  Bob,  why  is  it  that  Morgan  and  all 
his  crowd  are  against  me?  Don't  they  know  that 
they  would  get  justice  from  me?'  Bacon  smiled, 
hesitated,  and  then  said,  'Yes,  I  suppose  they  do.1" 

In  the  Progressive  campaign  Mr.  Nelson  violated 


INTRODUCTION  xxv 

a  personal  rule  of  many  years'  standing  which  for 
bade  his  personal  participation  in  politics.  Into  this 
campaign  he  went  with  his  whole  soul.  Then  past 
seventy  years  of  age,  he  was  abundantly  able  to 
direct  but  not  to  give  of  his  physical  strength.  He 
assumed  responsibility  for  organizing  the  party  in 
Missouri  and  lent  his  newspaper  organization  to  that 
end.  He  thought  day  and  night  for  the  party's  can 
didate  and  the  party's  principles,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  campaign  he  had  left  undone  nothing  which  he 
could  have  done  for  the  candidate  who  had  his  ab 
solute  and  unqualified  confidence.  After  the  election 
Colonel  Roosevelt  wrote  Mr.  Nelson: 

I  can  never  overstate  how  much  I  appreciate  all  that  you 
have  done  and  been  throughout  this  fight.  My  dear  Sir,  I 
am  very  grateful  and  I  know  that  the  only  way  I  can  show 
my  gratitude  is  so  to  bear  myself  that  you  will  feel  no  cause 
for  regret  at  having  stood  by  me. 

After  the  campaign  of  1912,  which  showed  the  re 
markable  strength  of  Colonel  Roosevelt  with  the 
people  and  demonstrated  that  he  was  still  a  factor 
in  American  public  life  to  be  reckoned  with,  the  tor 
menting  by  his  political  enemies  continued.  From 
many  quarters  darts  had  been  hurled  at  "  the  old 
lion."  In  July,  1914,  after  a  libel  suit  for  fifty 
thousand  dollars  had  been  started,  Mr.  Nelson  tele 
graphed  the  Colonel  at  Oyster  Bay: 

Too  bad  so  much  of  the  burden  should  fall  on  you.  Would 
gladly  share  it  with  you. 

In  a  few  days  the  message  brought  this  letter: 
When  a  man  is  under  constant  fire  and  begins  to  feel,  now 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION 

and  then,  as  if  he  did  not  have  very  many  friends,  and  as  if 
the  forces  against  him  were  perfectly  overwhelming,  then, 
even  though  he  is  prepared  to  battle  alone  absolutely  to  the 
end,  he  is  profoundly  appreciative  of  the  support  of  those 
whose  support  is  best  worth  having.  Your  telegram  not  only 
gave  me  real  comfort,  but  touched  and  moved  me  profoundly. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

That  was  the  end  of  the  recorded  correspondence 
between  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Nelson.  The 
former  came  West  on  a  speaking  tour  in  the  fall  of 
1914  and  during  his  stay  in  Kansas  City  was  a 
guest  again  at  Oak  Hall.  Mr.  Nelson  accompanied 
him  to  a  campaign  meeting  in  a  skating  rink  packed 
with  people  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  where  he  spoke 
in  a  sweltering  atmosphere  for  more  than  an  hour 
preaching  with  all  his  old  vigor  and  enthusiasm  the 
doctrines  of  the  Progressive  Party. 

There  was  the  same  display  from  great  crowds  of 
people,  along  the  streets  around  the  hall  and  every 
where  he  went,  of  the  keen  interest  and  personal 
admiration  which  Colonel  Roosevelt's  presence  in 
Kansas  City  territory  always  brought  out.  Kansas 
City  and  its  vicinity  had  been  Roosevelt  ground 
since  Kansas  and  Western  Missouri  became  ac 
quainted  with  him;  indeed,  any  appearance  by  him 
was  sufficient  to  fill  Convention  Hall  in  Kansas  City 
to  its  capacity  of  fifteen  thousand  people. 

Following  Mr.  Nelson's  death  in  April,  1915,  there 
came  from  Colonel  Roosevelt  a  sincere  appreciation 
of  his  sorrow,  ending,  "  We  have  lost  literally  one  of 
the  foremost  citizens  of  the  United  States,  one  of  the 
men  whom  our  Republic  could  least  afford  to  spare." 


INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

IV 

In  the  1916  campaign  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  The 
Star  were  of  the  same  mind.  Deeply  attached  to  the 
principles  on  which  the  battle  of  1912  had  been  con 
ducted  by  the  Progressive  Party,  they  were  con 
scious  of  the  futility  of  continuing  the  fight  for  those 
principles  in  a  third  party.  The  American  devotion 
to  the  two-party  system  Had  been  convincingly 
demonstrated  again.  The  World  War  had  been  in 
progress  two  years,  the  Lusitania  had  been  sunk 
without  stirring  the  Administration  to  more  than 
impotent  words.  Both  thought  that  the  Republican 
Party  presented  the  only  hope  of  accomplishment. 
Colonel  Roosevelt  was  The  Star's  choice  for  the 
nomination,  but  his  nomination  was  too  much  to 
expect  after  the  break  of  1912,  and  it  gave  its 
support  to  Mr.  Hughes. 

Early  in  June,  1917,  Mr.  Irwin  Kirkwood,  Mr. 
Nelson's  son-in-law,  on  his  way  West  from  New 
York,  chanced  to  meet  Colonel  Roosevelt  on  the 
train.  A  visit  in  the  Colonel's  stateroom  followed. 
The  conversation  turned  to  the  seeming  impossi 
bility  of  a  Roosevelt  division  for  France,  a  subject  in 
which  Mr.  Kirkwood  was  personally  interested,  for 
he  had  been  assured  service  in  France  if  the  Colonel's 
ambition  were  realized.  The  Colonel  was  discour 
aged  over  his  failure  to  get  active  service  and  restless 
at  the  Administration's  slow  preparation  for  war. 
Of  the  Nation's  whole-hearted  support  of  the  war  he 
was  certain,  and  the  high  thought  with  him  at  the 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

time  was  to  bring  influences  to  bear  on  the  Admin 
istration  to  speed  up. 

At  this  time  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  contributing 
a  monthly  article  for  The  Metropolitan  Magazine 
written  long  in  advance  of  its  publication.  Daily, 
momentous  problems  of  the  war  were  coming  up. 
Mr.  Kirkwood  felt  strongly  that  the  American 
people  were  eager  to  know  what  Theodore  Roosevelt 
thought  on  these  questions.  If  he  could  reach  the 
public  quickly,  great  good  would  result  to  this 
country's  cause.  Recalling  that  Mr.  Nelson  had 
said,  when  there  was  criticism  of  the  ex-President's 
purpose  to  write  for  The  Outlook,  when  it  was  first 
announced,  he  would  be  mighty  glad  to  have  him 
write  for  The  Star,  Mr.  Kirkwood  said : 

"  Colonel  Roosevelt,  would  n't  it  be  fine  if  you 
could  get  your  ideas  on  the  war  to  the  people  before 
they  were  twenty-four  hours  old?  The  only  way  that 
could  be  done  is  through  a  newspaper." 

11  By  George!  "  said  the  Colonel,  with  emphasis, 
"  I  never  thought  of  that:  it  sounds  like  a  good 
idea." 

Mr.  Kirkwood  said  if  he  would  consider  the  sug 
gestion,  The  Star  would  certainly  welcome  him. 

' '  Such  a  proposition  would  not  tempt  me  from  many 
newspapers,"  Colonel  Roosevelt  continued.  "In 
fact  I  know  of  no  others  except  The  Kansas  City 
Star  and  The  Philadelphia  North  American  from 
which  I  would  consider  it.  The  Star  particularly 
appeals  to  me  as  being  printed  in  the  heart  of  the 
great  progressive  Middle  Western  country,  and  be- 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 

cause,  too,  of  my  love  and  affection  for  Colonel 
Nelson." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  remarked  that  he  would  like 
to  discuss  the  proposal  with  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Nicholas  Longworth,  for  he  had 
great  confidence  in  the  judgment  of  both.  On  Mr. 
Kirkwood's  return  to  New  York  a  fortnight  later, 
Colonel  Roosevelt  said  he  was  still  "  filled  up  "  with 
the  idea  and  asked  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kirkwood  out  to 
dinner  at  Oyster  Bay  with  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and 
himself.  Mrs.  Kirkwood  was  unable  to  go.  Mr. 
Kirkwood  again  discussed  the  proposal.  Colonel 
Roosevelt's  position  was  that  if  The  Star  was  still 
unafraid,  he  was  willing  to  start.  The  next  time  the 
Colonel  came  to  New  York  he  had  tea  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kirkwood,  and^  there  was  a  further  full  and 
frank  discussion. 

"You,  of  course,  know  what  you  are  doing," 
Colonel  Roosevelt  said.  "  Many  people  do  not  like 
my  ideas  and  probably  many  of  your  subscribers 
will  be  perfectly  furious  at  The  Star  for  printing  my 
editorials." 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kirkwood  assured  him  full 
consideration  had  been  given  to  that  phase,  and 
while  it  was  possible  he  and  The  Star  might  not 
always  agree,  that  fact  would  not  stand  in  the  way 
of  the  arrangement. 

So  the  agreement  was  there  entered  into.  Colonel 
Roosevelt  suggested  that  as  1920  was  a  presidential 
year  the  connection  be  for  two  years  or  until  October, 
1919,  to  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kirkwood  assented. 


xxx  INTRODUCTION 

Colonel  Roosevelt  said  he  never  pretended  to  be 
much  of  a  business  man,  but  a  formal  contract  was 
the  usual  thing;  he  had  one  with  The  Metropolitan. 
Anyhow  he  would  gladly  sign  it.  He  was  asked  if  he 
desired  a  contract  and  answered  he  did  not. 

'You  understand  and  we  do — "  said  Mr.  Kirk- 
wood. 

Without  waiting  for  the  sentence  to  be  finished, 
Colonel  Roosevelt  said  quickly,  "That's  all  I  want 
to  know.  Let 's  don't  bother  with  a  contract." 

And  on  that  basis  the  Colonel  wrote  for  The  Star 
until  his  death. 

Early  in  September  I  was  delegated  to  go  to  New 
York,  as  Managing  Editor  of  The  Star,  to  discuss 
with  the  Colonel  the  details  of  his  work  for  the  paper. 
I  met  him  at  a  hotel  in  Fifty-Seventh  Street  where  he 
went  on  the  days  he  came  in  from  Oyster  Bay.  Mrs. 
Roosevelt  was  with  him.  Roosevelt  was  in  high 
spirits,  which  was  no  uncommon  thing.  I  recall 
vividly  my  introduction  to  Mrs.  Roosevelt. 

"  Edith,"  he  said,  leading  me  into  the  room  where 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  was,  "  here  is  my  new  boss!  " 

I  did  n't  say  it,  but  the  thought  came  to  me  that 
I  would  prefer  the  task  of  "  bossing  "  a  tornado. 

The  talk  that  followed  was  that  The  Star  had  no 
desire  to  guide  what  he  wrote;  that  it  desired  him  to 
write  whatever  was  in  him,  and  it  would  print  it. 
The  Colonel  said  that  was  exactly  what  he  wanted ; 
he  could  do  nothing  else.  We  discussed  the  dis 
tribution  over  the  country  of  his  writings,  which  he 
left  entirely  to  The  Star,  with  the  request  that  they 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 

be  not  offered  to  certain  newspapers  which  had  long 
shown  a  spirit  of  personal  animosity  to  him  and  of 
habitual  hostility  toward  his  principles,  a  suggestion 
which  was  wholly  agreeable  to  The  Star.  He  asked 
about  the  length  and  frequency  of  the  articles  he 
was  to  write.  It  was  agreed  that  an  editorial  of 
around  five  hundred  words  was  ideal,  and  at  the 
start  there  would  be  two  contributions  a  week. 
Later  they  were  more  frequent.  The  Colonel  said  he 
would  probably  find  it  difficult  to  keep  down  to  five 
hundred  words,  but  he  recognized  the  limitations  of 
newspaper  space  and  would  do  his  best. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  if  I  get  too  highbrow,  don't 
hesitate  to  tell  me.  I  'm  no  tender  flower;  I  can 
stand  criticism." 

His  secretary  had  come  into  the  room  to  receive 
dictation  from  accumulated  correspondence.  I  arose 
to  go.  "  Stay  with  us,"  the  Colonel  said,  "  until  I 
finish  this;  you  are  a  member  of  the  family  now." 

Short,  crisp  sentences  came  from  him  as  he  dic 
tated,  each  with  the  animation  of  a  face-to-face 
conversation  with  the  writers  of  the  letters. 

It  was  arranged  that  the  Colonel  was  to  take  up 
his  duties  the  first  of  October,  and  a  few  days  after 
this  meeting  announcement  was  made  the  country 
over  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  to  write  for  The 
Kansas  City  Star.  Immediately  applications  for  the 
right  to  print  the  articles  poured  in  from  newspapers 
throughout  the  country. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  came  West  in  September  on  a 
speaking  tour  which  included  Kansas  City.  So  he 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION 

came  into  the  office  of  The  Star  on  the  morning  of 
September  22,  1917,  and  went  to  a  desk  which  had 
been  assigned  him,  with  the  remark,  "  The  cub  re 
porter  will  now  begin  work."  He  was  fond  of  that 
designation  and  often  in  conversation  referred  to 
himself  as  "  The  Star's  cub  reporter."  With  pencil 
he  wrote  out  on  newspaper  copy-paper,  with  much 
scratching  and  interlining,  the  editorial,  (<  Blood, 
Iron,  and  Gold,"  which  appeared  the  following  day. 
His  first  editorial,  however,  was,  a  short  time  before, 
written  on  suggestion  of  Mr.  Kirkwood,  a  brief  piece 
on  the  death  of  Dr.  W.  S.  Fitzsimons,  of  Kansas 
City,  who  was  killed  by  a  bomb  in  an  airplane  attack 
on  a  hospital  in  France  —  the  first  American  officer 
to  fall  in  the  war. 

The  same  day  Colonel  Roosevelt  wrote  another 
editorial  for  later  publication.  He  was  good  nature 
itself  that  Saturday  morning  in  the  office,  joked  and 
chatted  with  members  of  the  staff,  and  seemed  to  be 
enjoying  the  novelty  of  his  new  connection. 

The  following  Sunday  there  was  a  luncheon  of  The 
Star  family  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kirkwood, 
at  which  the  "  new  cub  reporter  "  made  himself 
thoroughly  at  home.  Editors,  reporters,  and  men 
of  the  mechanical  and  circulation  departments  were 
there  and  had  luncheon  with  the  Colonel.  He 
mingled  with  all  and  took  delight  in  chatting  with 
them  of  their  work.  During  the  afternoon  he  made 
an  informal  talk  to  "  the  family  "  out  on  the  lawn, 
in  which  he  commended  the  spirit  of  working  to 
gether  shown  in  the  expression  "  The  Star  family." 


INTRODUCTION  xxxiii 

He  spoke,  too,  of  his  long  acquaintance  with  the 
aims  and  purposes  of  Mr.  Nelson  which  were  the 
aims  and  purposes  of  The  Star,  and  said,  as  he  had 
said  before,  that  The  Star  was  one  of  two  daily 
newspapers  with  which  he  would  be  proud  of  a 
connection. 

The  arrangement  was  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  was 
to  telegraph  his  editorials  to  The  Star  from  Oyster 
Bay  or  wherever  he  was  when  he  wrote  them.  They 
were  put  in  type  in  The  Star  office  and  sent  out  from 
there  for  simultaneous  publication  in  a  selected  list 
of  about  fifty  newspapers.  These  included  the  best- 
known  newspapers  in  the  country  and  represented 
every  section.  The  service  was  without  charge  be 
yond  telegraph  tolls,  it  being  The  Star's  wish  to  give 
the  widest  diffusion  possible  to  Colonel  Roosevelt's 
ideas  on  the  conduct  of  the  war  through  the  best 
channel  in  each  city. 

Frequently  there  were  suggestions  from  The  Star 
to  the  Colonel.  Always  he  was  gracious  in  his  treat 
ment  of  those  suggestions,  invariably  writing  along 
the  lines  indicated  and  often  amplifying  and  better 
ing  them.  On  the  other  hand  —  except  in  two  in 
stances  —  the  Colonel's  editorials  were  printed  just 
as  they  were  written,  and  if  any  change  in  copy  were 
considered  advisable  it  was  made  only  after  he  had 
been  consulted  by  wire  and  had  approved  it. 

From  the  start  the  country  was  much  interested 
in  the  expressions  from  the  Colonel.  The  news 
papers  which  received  them  printed  them  faithfully 
and  conspicuously.  However,  the  service  had  been 


xxxiv  INTRODUCTION 

in  operation  not  more  than  a  fortnight  before  there 
came  rumbles  of  disapproval  and  doubt,  almost 
altogether  from  newspapers  published  south  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  Line. 

One  of  the  early  editorials,  entitled  "  Sam  Weller 
and  Mr.  Snodgrass,"  presented  Uncle  Sam,  "  eight 
months  after  Germany  went  to  war  with  us,  and  we 
severed  relations  with  Germany  as  the  first  move  in 
our  sixty  days'  stern  foremost  drift  into,  not  going 
to,  war,"  as  the  boastful  Mr.  Snodgrass,  still  taking 
off  his  coat  and  announcing  in  a  loud  voice  what  he 
was  about  to  do.  This  drew  from  the  mayor  of 
Abilene,  Texas,  the  following  letter  to  The  Star- 
Telegram,  of  Fort  Worth,  Texas,  which  was  publish 
ing  the  Roosevelt  articles: 

ABILENE,  TEXAS,  October  3,  1917.  Fort  Worth  Star-Tele 
gram,  Fort  Worth,  Tex.  The  Roosevelt  article  appearing  in 
your  paper  of  this  date  is  nothing  short  of  the  expression  of 
the  thoughts  of  a  seditious  conspirator  who  should  be  shot 
dead,  and, the  Editor-in-Chief  of  your  paper  should  be  tarred 
and  feathered  for  publishing  it,  and  your  paper  should  be 
excluded  from  the  mails  of  the  United  States.  You  may 
publish  this  if  you  wish,  and  stop  my  paper. 

E.  N.  KIRBY 

Mayor  of  Abilene 

The  Fort  Worth  Star-Telegram  promptly  pub 
lished  Mayor  Kirby's  letter,  under  the  caption  "  The 
Retort  Courteous,"  adding  the  following: 

The  Editor-in-Chief  presents  his  compliments  to  the 
Mayor  of  Abilene  and  begs  to  say  that  should  he  conclude 
personally  to  conduct  a  tar  and  feather  expedition  in  our 
direction,  he  will  experience  no  great  difficulty  in  locating  the 


INTRODUCTION  xxxv 

said  Editor-in-Chief.   Meanwhile  we  can  assure  him  that  his 
reception  will  not  be  lacking  in  hospitality  or  warmth. 

The  mayor  of  Abilene  and  the  editor  did  not  meet. 
Later,  in  an  editorial  devoted  to  apologists  for  the 
delay  in  making  war  who  were  saying,  "  Why  cry 
over  spilt  milk?  "  Colonel  Roosevelt  referred  to  the 
incident,  saying: 

Recently  the  mayor  of  Abilene,  Texas,  expressed  his  dis 
approval  of  my  pointing  out  that  we,  as  a  Nation,  had  wholly 
failed  to  prepare,  by  saying  that  I  was  "  a  seditious  conspir 
ator  who  ought  to  be  shot  dead,"  and  that  the  editor  of  the 
newspaper  publishing  the  article  "  should  be  tarred  and 
feathered."  Although  differing  in  method  of  expression,  this 
slight  homicidal  bleat  of  the  gentle-souled  (and  doubtless 
entirely  harmless)  mayor  of  Abilene,  Texas,  is  exactly  similar 
in  thought  to  the  utterances  of  all  these  sheeplike  creatures 
who  raise  quavering  or  incoherent  protests  against  every 
honest  and  patriotic  man  who  points  out  the  damage  done  by 
our  failure  to  prepare. 


V 

When  the  "  cub  reporter  "  came  to  take  on  his 
"  new  job,"  he  learned  for  the  first  time  of  the  condi 
tions  at  Camp  Funston,  in  Kansas,  the  big  national 
army  training  camp  of  the  Middle  West,  to  which 
his  old  friend,  Major-General  Leonard  Wood,  had 
been  assigned.  The  drafted  men  were  assembled 
there  from  the  farms  and  towns  of  the  Middle  West 
before  adequate  provision  had  been  made  for  their 
care  or  their  training.  They  were  trained  with 
wooden  cannon,  and  broomsticks  served  in  place  of 
rifles.  Colonel  Roosevelt  wrote  an  editorial  entitled 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTION 

41  Broomstick  Preparedness,"  which  touched  mildly 
on  the  conditions  at  Funston.  The  expression 
"  Broomstick  Preparedness  "  caught  popular  fancy 
as  typifying  the  Administration's  delay  in  many  as 
pects  of  war  preparation.  It  stuck  in  the  public 
mind.  It  was  widely  used  by  newspapers  and  by 
speakers  who  thought  the  Government  was  not 
showing  sufficient  speed.  An  editorial,  "  Broomstick 
Apologists,"  followed,  directed  at  people  who  an 
swered  criticism  of  delay  by  making  excuses  for 
delay. 

From  the  beginning  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  in  the 
main  devoted  his  articles  to  speeding  up  the  prepara 
tions  for  making  war.  The  boosting  of  Liberty  bonds 
and  the  various  war  drives,  the  pacifists  and  hyphen 
ated  enemies  on  our  own  soil,  were  not  overlooked  by 
any  means,  but  the  thing  that  seared  his  soul  was 
the  lack  of  speed  in  making  ready  for  actual  warfare. 
When  his  connection  with  The  Star  began,  we  had 
been  officially  at  war  nearly  six  months,  and  how 
little  the  Government  had  accomplished  toward 
equipping  for  actual  warfare  was  continuously  held 
up  in  his  articles. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  used  the  method,  followed  by 
newspaper  writers  who  earnestly  seek  to  achieve 
results,  of  pounding  continually  on  a  few  things, 
dressing  each  article  in  different  language,  but  keep 
ing  to  the  front  all  the  time  the  central  idea,  present 
ing  the  same  thoughts  in  article  after  article,  but 
striving  in  each  so  to  change  the  presentation  that 
the  ideas  would  finally  enter  the  reader's  mind  and 


INTRODUCTION  xxxvii 

stir  him  to  action.  Mr.  Nelson  used  this  method  in 
the  conduct  of  The  Star.  For  many  years,  beginning 
with  its  first  publication,  The  Star  advocated  parks 
and  boulevards  for  Kansas  City.  It  hammered  away 
on  the  subject  in  nearly  every  issue.  It  took  almost 
twenty  years  to  do  it,  but  at  the  end  a  splendid  sys 
tem  of  parks  and  boulevards  stands  as  a  monument 
to  The  Star's  persistence. 

Article  after  article  Colonel  Roosevelt  devoted  to 
the  slow  speed  in  war-making  until  there  was  finally 
a  response  in  Washington.  It  heard  from  public 
opinion.  War-making  was  speeded  up,  although  at 
the  best  and  in  the  end  there  were  many,  many 
deficiencies  in  our  war  machine. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  criticisms  of  the  Administra 
tion  were  not  widely  popular.  The  Star  never  had 
any  idea  they  would  be  popular,  but  it  believed  they 
were  right  and  for  the  real  good  of  the  country.  As 
he  had  foreseen  when  the  connection  was  made, 
"  Many  of  your  subscribers  will  be  perfectly  furious 
at  The  Star  for  printing  my  editorials."  They  were. 
They  wrote  to  The  Star  to  denounce  the  Colonel  for 
writing  the  articles  and  The  Star  for  printing  them. 
In  popular  discussion  in  the  Middle  West  forms  of 
disapproval  ranged  from  "  He  should  stand  by  the 
President  "  to  "He  should  be  stood  before  a  stone 
wall  and  shot."  Generally  the  user  of  the  latter 
phrase  added  "  at  sunrise."  That  was  an  expression 
often  heard.  It  was  used  by  political  orators  with 
effect.  Colonel  Roosevelt  knew  full  well  of  the  feel 
ing  in  the  West  and  South  toward  his  articles.  He 


xxxviii  INTRODUCTION 

wrote  once  asking  what  effect  the  storm  was  having 
on  The  Star.  Never  a  word  from  him  to  show  he 
cared  one  whit  about  himself.  He  knew  he  was  doing 
the  right  thing  for  the  country;  he  went  ahead. 

The  frank  truth  is,  there  was  a  strong  and  active 
pacifist  element  in  the  territory  in  which  The  Star 
circulated.  It  had  not  been  for  preparedness.  It  had 
voted  for  President  Wilson  in  1916  largely  "  because 
he  kept  us  out  of  war."  Undeniably  that  idea  was 
popular.  A  candidate  for  governor  in  a  neighboring 
state,  running  on  the  Republican  ticket,  had  made  a 
campaign  identical  with  the  Democratic  slogan  and 
had  carried  the  state,  which  at  the  same  time  gave 
its  vote  to  the  Democratic  presidential  candidate. 
But  once  we  were  in  war  the  people  of  this  section 
responded  nobly;  they  went  to  the  limit,  but  for  a 
long  time  after  we  were  in  war  they  did  not  approve 
the  prodding-up  of  Washington.  The  hostility  to 
ward  the  Roosevelt  articles  in  the  South  was  more 
pronounced.  At  the  beginning  of  the  service  ten 
Southern  newspapers  were  taking  it.  Their  state 
ments  about  discontinuance  ran  from  ' '  We  find 
further  publication  inadvisable  in  our  territory  "  to 
an  apology  to  their  readers  for  ever  having  allowed 
the  Roosevelt  articles  to  enter  their  columns. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  not  without  defenders; 
many  of  them  thought  and  said  he  was  rendering 
the  greatest  service  to  the  country  in  all  his  career. 
But  in  the  excited  state  of  mind  in  the  spring  of  1918, 
when  the  Germans  were  driving  toward  Paris,  it  re 
quired  courage  to  defend  the  articles.  Many,  how- 


INTRODUCTION  xxxix 

ever,  spoke  out  boldly;  others  did  not.  Party  lines 
were  not  followed  strictly.  Republicans  were  not  so 
bitter  as  men  of  the  President's  party.  '  We  must 
stand  by  the  President  "  had  a  popular  appeal 
regardless  of  whether  the  Government  was  function 
ing  efficiently  or  not.  The  view  was  widely  held  that 
it  was  unpatriotic  to  criticize  the  President.  Fre 
quently  it  was  charged  that  Colonel  Roosevelt's 
purposes  were  political,  not  patriotic.  The  articles 
were  often  decried  as  pro-German  propaganda  and 
The  Star  was  branded  as  pro-German  for  publishing 
them. 

In  April,  1918,  when  this  feeling  was  at  its  height, 
when  the  people  in  Kansas  City's  territory  were  in  a 
highly  inflamed  state  of  feeling  toward  criticism  of 
the  Government,  Colonel  Roosevelt  sent  a  ringing 
editorial,  "  Freedom  Stands  with  her  Back  to  the 
Wall,"  which  The  Star  did  not  consider  it  advisable 
to  publish.  It  had  no  doubt  of  the  entire  righteous 
ness  of  the  criticism  passed  on  the  officials  at  Wash 
ington,  for  the  fruition  of  their  slowness  was  shown 
in  the  poor  showing  America  was  making  in  these 
critical  days,  but  it  could  see  no  good  to  come  from 
the  publication:  in  its  opinion  the  article  would  only 
further  inflame  Colonel  Roosevelt's  enemies  and 
irritate  his  friends.  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  informed 
of  the  office  opinion  of  this  article  as  he  was  on  a 
later  article  ("  How  Not  to  Adjourn  Politics,"  June 
25)  which  was  not  published.  He  acquiesced  in  the 
decision,  saying  that  he  could  readily  conceive  of 
local  conditions  which  made  their  publication  ill- 


xl  INTRODUCTION 

advised.  He  asked  that  they  be  telegraphed  to  two 
other  newspapers,  which  was  done.  The  Star  was 
willing  to  go  as  far  as  it  could  go  without,  in  its 
judgment,  lessening  the  effectiveness  of  the  articles 
in  accomplishing  the  speeding-up  of  the  war,  but  it 
would  not  go  beyond  this  point. 

In  July,  when  criticism  had  caused  the  removal  of 
many  inefficients  at  Washington  and  when  Ameri 
can  troops  were  beginning  to  reach  France,  The 
Star  was  barred  from  the  Public  Library  at  Fulton, 
Missouri,  an  intensely  Democratic  town  in  Central 
Missouri,  "  for  disloyalty  to  the  present  Administra 
tion."  The  notice  read : 

DEAR  SIR:  By  order  from  the  library  board  of  the  Public 
Library  I  am  advised  to  have  you  discontinue  our  subscrip 
tion  to  The  Daily  Star  and  The  Times.  Disloyalty  to  the 
present  Administration  is  the  reason  given  for  the  action 
taken. 

Yours  sincerely 

FRANCES  F.  WATSON 

Librarian 

Answering  this  editorially,  The  Star  said  that 
throughout  the  war  it  had  taken  the  course  of  calling 
attention  to  the  mistakes  of  the  Government  rather 
than  remaining  silent  on  its  mistakes;  that  it  did  not 
believe  in  saying  the  country  was  doing  finely  when 
it  was  not;  that  it  believed  in  exposing  inefficiency 
and  rooting  it  out.  It  directed  attention  to  results 
already  accomplished  by  criticism  in  bringing  into 
the  war  preparations  men  like  Schwab,  Goethals, 
Stettinius,  March,  Baruch,  and  others,  adding: 
"  The  Star  is  proud  to  belong  to  the  little  group  of 


INTRODUCTION  xli 

constructive  critics,  including  preeminently  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  who  worked  to  get  wrong  conditions 
changed  and  to  contribute  to  the  present  result, 
which  to-day  is  the  salvation  of  the  cause  we  fight 
for.  For  it  to  have  done  anything  else  would  have 
been  faithlessness  to  its  trust." 

When  at  last  the  stirring-up  of  the  Administration 
had  borne  fruit  and  American  troops  were  in  France 
and  on  the  way  in  considerable,  though  disappoint 
ing,  numbers,  Colonel  Roosevelt  slowed  down  his 
bombardment  of  the  Washington  authorities.  His 
campaign  had  produced  results.  He  was  right  in 
doing  all  he  could  to  speed  up  war  preparations,  and 
he  stood  his  ground  in  the  face  of  widespread  censure 
in  the  way  he  always  did.  [Hostile  newspapers  had 
demanded  that  the  Postmaster-General  suppress  the 
circulation  of  the  Roosevelt  articles;  indeed,  a  post- 
office  inspector  had  visited  Kansas  City  with  the 
idea  of  denying  The  Star  admission  to  the  mails, 
but  the  Administration  'made  no  further  move  in 
this  direction. 

Even  when  the  turning  of  the  tide  had  set  in, 
Roosevelt's  demand  was  for  men,  more  men,  and 
then  more  men  for  France.  He  would  have  in  all 
six  or  seven  million  men  in  training,  and  four  mil 
lion  American  soldiers  in  France  in  the  spring  of 
1919.  In  the  first  article  he  sent  after  the  news  of 
Quentin's  death,  he  said: 

Now  and  always  afterwards  we  of  this  country  will  walk 
with  our  heads  high  because  of  the  men  who  face  death  and 
wounds,  and  so  many  of  whom  have  given  their  lives  for 


xlii  INTRODUCTION 

this  nation  and  for  the  great  ideals  of  humanity  across  the 
sea.  But  we  must  not  let  our  pride  and  our  admiration 
evaporate  in  mere  pride,  in  mere  admiration  of  what  others 
have  done.  We  must  put  the  whole  strength  of  this  nation 
back  of  the  fighting  men  at  the  front.  We  owe  it  to  them. 

Later  on  the  good  effect  of  Colonel  Roosevelt's 
criticism  was  widely  recognized.  The  Nation,  one 
of  the  Colonel's  bitterest  opponents,  in  general  a 
strong  supporter  of  the  Administration,  said  of  his 
editorials:  "  It  is  largely  to  him  that  we  owe  our 
ability  to  discuss  peace  terms  and  to  criticize  at  all." 

Summing  up  the  effect  of  Colonel  Roosevelt's  cam 
paign  to  speed  up  our  part  in  the  war,  The  Star  said 
editorially : 

There  were  periods  of  intolerance  when  neither  Mr.  Roose 
velt  nor  The  Star  was  under  any  illusions  as  to  the  reception 
that  would  be  given  frank  criticism.  But  it  was  essential  that 
such  criticism  be  made  in  order  to  correct  evils  that  were 
really  threatening  the  outcome  of  the  war 

The  selective  draft  was  the  big  achievement  of  the  Admin 
istration  in  1917.  But  having  prepared  this,  the  Government 
proceeded  in  most  leisurely  fashion,  apparently  not  getting 
the  slightest  comprehension  of  the  danger  to  the  Allied  cause 
resulting  from  Russia's  collapse. 

The  War  Department  continued  to  be  run,  as  it  had  been 
in  the  past,  by  amiable  old  gentlemen  who  were  wholly  unfit 
for  the  task.  Although  airplanes  had  become  an  essential 
feature  of  modern  warfare,  it  was  not  until  weeks  after  war 
had  been  declared  that  the  department  sent  a  commission  to 
Europe  to  learn  what  a  military  airplane  was.  Rifles  are  usu 
ally  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  military  equipment  of  troops. 
But  it  was  two  months  after  the  declaration  of  war  before 
the  War  Department  decided  what  type  of  rifle  to  make.  An 
army  of  millions  of  men  was  certain  to  need  uniforms,  but 
the  easy-going  quartermaster-general  turned  down  the  offer 
of  the  wool  manufacturers'  association  for  the  entire  output 


INTRODUCTION  xliii 

of  the  country  and  the  result  was  that  the  soldiers  went  into 
the  winter  without  warm  clothing  or  overcoats.  As  for  ar 
tillery,  the  incapacity  was  complete. 

Meanwhile  we  sent '  a  small  expeditionary  force  to  France, 
and  in  the  autumn  began  sending  troops  across  in  a  leisurely 
way,  at  the  rate  of  ten  thousand  a  week. 

Then  suddenly,  late  in  March,  with  the  German  army 
driving  straight  on  Paris  and  the  Allied  defenses  giving  way, 
under  the  appeal  of  Lloyd  George  we  suddenly  woke  to  the 
fact  that  we  had  been  playing  with  the  war.  From  that  time 
on  we  acted  as  if  we  had  a  man's  job,  and  we  got  into  the  line 
just  in  time  to  save  the  situation. 

All  through  the  fall  and  winter  of  last  year  what  Mr. 
Roosevelt  and  the  other  outspoken  critics  were  trying  to  do 
was  to  arouse  the  country  and  the  Administration  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  and  to  the  danger  from  delay.  They 
succeeded  only  partly.  But  they  did  succeed  to  the  extent  of 
forcing  the  removal  of  incompetent  departmental  chiefs,  and 
the  substitution  of  efficient  men  who  were  able  to  handle 
the  emergency  when  the  Administration  finally  discovered 
that  the  emergency  existed. 

Looking  back  over  the  events  of  the  last  eighteen  months, 
we  believe  no  fair-minded  American  can  fail  to  perceive  the 
patriotic  service  done  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  other  critics, 
who  were  seeking  to  awaken  the  Government  from  a  lethargy 
that  just  missed  proving  fatal  to  the  Allied  cause. 


VI 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  last  visit  to  his  desk  in  the 
editorial  rooms  of  The  Star  was  early  in  October, 
1918.  It  struck  those  who  had  been  associated  with 
him  that  he  was  not  quite  as  fit  as  usual.  I  asked 
him  if  it  were  true  the  physicians  had  placed  him  on 
a  diet.  He  said  it  was,  but,  to  be  frank,  he  had  not 
given  much  heed  to  their  recommendations.  In  a 
discussion  at  his  desk  with  men  of  the  editorial  force 


xliv  INTRODUCTION 

a  recent  article  about  Roosevelt  by  George  Creel 
came  up.  "  I  must  admit/'  said  Colonel  Roosevelt, 
laughing,  "  he  took  a  rather  jaundiced  view  of  me." 

Mr.  Kirkwood  was  away  in  the  army,  but  Mrs. 
Kirkwood  was  in  Kansas  City  and  the  Colonel 
stayed  at  their  home  during  his  visit.  At  this  time  a 
subject  was  brought  up  which  had  been  talked  over 
along  in  the  summer  —  a  visit  from  him  to  the  battle 
front  to  write  at  first  hand  of  the  American  forces. 
Newspapers  which  were  receiving  the  service  and 
others  which  had  heard  of  the  suggestion  were  eager 
for  Roosevelt  articles  from  France,  but  from  the 
first  the  Colonel  had  demurred  and  now  said  a  final 
"  No."  His  reason  was  that  he  could  not  go  as  a 
private  citizen,  as  he  had  been  denied  permission 
to  go  as  a  soldier;  it  would  not  only  be  unbecoming 
for  a  former  president  of  the  United  States  to  go  in 
any  newspaper  capacity,  but  how  to  treat  him  would 
be  an  embarrassing  question  to  France. 

The  tide  had  turned  toward  the  Allies,  and  the 
country  was  certain  the  defeat  of  the  enemy  was 
a  question  of  a  short  time.  Colonel  Roosevelt's 
articles  turned  to  a  discussion  of  the  kind  of  peace 
there  should  be  and  examinations  of  the  President's 
11  Fourteen  Points  "  and  his  notes  to  Austria.  On 
November  1 1  -  -  the  day  the  armistice  was  signed  - 
it  was  considered  necessary  for  Colonel  Roosevelt  to 
go  to  a  hospital  in  New  York.  From  his  hospital 
room  he  telegraphed  that  day  an  editorial  joining 
in  the  general  rejoicing  over  peace  and  appraising 
tersely  our  part  in  the  war. 


INTRODUCTION  xlv 

A  few  days  later  there  came  an  editorial  prompted 
by  a  letter  from  a  woman  friend  in  California. 
Visiting  this  friend  was  another  woman  whose  son 
had  died  of  influenza  in  the  navy.  That  mother  had 
said  she  had  given  her  boy  proudly  to  her  country, 
"  but  if  only  he  could  have  died  with  a  gun  in  his 
hand  —  a  little  glory  for  him  and  a  thought  for  me 
that  my  sacrifice  had  not  been  useless."  The  Cali 
fornia  friend  had  written:  "  There  must  be  other 
mothers  who  feel  they  have  laid  their  sacrifices  on 
cold  altars.  You  have  written  much  that  will  com 
fort  the  mothers  whose  sons  have  paid  with  their 
bodies  in  battle.  Is  n't  there  something  you  can  say 
to  comfort  these  other  mothers?  " 

The  letter  touched  Colonel  Roosevelt  deeply.  "  I 
felt  a  real  pang  when  I  received  this  letter,"  he 
wrote,  "  because  the  thought  suggested  had  been  in 
my  mind  and  yet  I  had  failed  to  express  it."  The 
editorial,  "  Sacrifices  on  Cold  Altars,"  which  he 
wrote  in  response,  gave  consolation  from  the  heart. 
It  made  it  clear  that  all  who  had  given  their  lives  in 
the  country's  service,  whether  in  action  or  from  dis 
ease,  stood  on  "  an  exact  level  of  service  and  sacrifice 
and  honor  and  glory."  It  concluded: 

The  mother  or  wife  whose  son  or  husband  has  died,  whether 
in  battle  or  by  fever  or  in  the  accident  inevitable  in  hurriedly 
preparing  a  modern  army  for  war,  must  never  feel  that  the 
sacrifice  has'been  laid  on  "  a  cold  altar."  There  is  no  gradation 
of  honor  among  these  gallant  men  and  no  essential  gradation 
of  service.  They  all  died  that  we  might  live;  our  debt  is  to 
all  of  them,  and  we  can  pay  it  even  personally  only  by  striving 
so  to  live  as  to  bring  a  little  nearer  the  day  when  justice  and 


xlvi  INTRODUCTION 

mercy  shall  rule  in  our  own  homes  and  among  the  nations  of 
the  world. 

From  his  entrance  to  the  hospital  until  his  depar 
ture  on  Christmas  day,  the  editorials  were  less  fre 
quent.  The  Peace  Conference,  the  Congressional 
elections,  and  the  League  of  Nations  were  uppermost 
in  public  thought,  and  on  these  subjects  the  Colonel 
wrote  several  editorials.  Both  Colonel  Roosevelt 
and  The  Star  were  anxious  to  find  some  means  to 
lessen  the  chance  of  war  through  international  organ 
ization.  Both  feared,  from  President  Wilson's  ad 
dresses,  that  he  had  in  view  some  grandiose  plan  that 
Would  be  impractical.  In  December  a  member  of 
The  Star's  staff  visited  the  Colonel  in  Roosevelt 
Hospital,  New  York.  At  that  time  he  had  written 
one  or  two  editorials  discussing  the  subject  in  a 
tentative  way.  He  was  asked  if  he  did  not  think  he 
could  say  something  more  positive. 

41 1  doubt  it,"  he  said.  "  I  feel  there  is  so  little  that 
really  can  be  done  by  any  form  of  treaty  to  prevent 
war  that  it  would  be  disappointing  for  me  to  point 
it  out.  Any  treaty  adopted  under  the  influence  of 
war  emotions  would  be  like  the  good  resolutions 
adopted  at  a  mass  meeting.  We  have  an  anti-vice 
crusade.  Everybody  is  aroused.  The  movement 
culminates  in  a  big  meeting  and  we  adopt  resolu 
tions  abolishing  vice.  But  vice  is  n't  abolished  that 
way." 

Correspondence  on  the  subject  followed,  and  De 
cember  28,  1918,  he  wtote  this  letter  to  the  member 
of  the  staff  who  had  been  talking  with  him: 


INTRODUCTION  xlvii 

In  substance,  or,  as  our  friends  the  diplomats  say,  in 
principle,  I  am  in  hearty  accord  with  you.  But  do  you  really 
think  we  ought  to  guarantee  to  stand  with  France  and  Italy 
in  all  future  continental  wars?  It's  a  pretty  big  guarantee 
and  I  don't  know  whether  it  would  be  made  good.  Indeed,  I 
don't  know  whether  it  ought  to  be  made  good.  I  am  most 
heartily  with  France  and  England  now,  but  I  certainly  would 
not  have  been  with  France  fifty  years  ago  or  with  England 
sixty  years  ago,  and  our  clear  duty  to  antagonize  Germany 
has  slowly  become  apparent  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty 
years.  Remember  that  you  are  freer  to  write  unsigned  edi 
torials  than  I  am  when  I  use  my  signature.  If  you  propose  a 
little  more  than  can  be  carried  out,  no  harm  comes,  but  if  I 
do  so  it  may  hamper  me  for  years.  However,  I  will  do  my 
best  to  write  you  such  an  article  as  you  suggest;  and  then 
probably  one  on  what  I  regard  as  infinitely  more  important, 
namely,  our  business  to  prepare  for  our  own  self-defense. 

As  for  Wilson  having  with  him  the  bulk  of  the  people  who 
are  taken  in  by  this  name  [The  League  of  Nations],  I  attach 
less  importance  to  this  than  you  do.  He  is  a  conscienceless 
rhetorician  and  he  will  always  get  the  well-meaning,  foolish 
creatures  who  are  misled  by  names.  At  present  anything 
he  says  about  the  World  League  is  in  the  domain  of  empty 
and  windy  eloquence.  The  important  point  will  be  reached 
when  he  has  to  make  definite  the  thing  for  which  he  stands. 

The  article  written  in  response  to  the  promise  in 
this  letter  was  Colonel  Roosevelt's  last  contribution 
to  The  Star.  It  was  dictated  at  his  home  at  Oyster 
Bay,  January  3,  which  was  Friday.  His  secretary 
expected  to  take  it  to  him  for  correction  the  following 
Monday.  Instead  an  early  call  on  the  telephone  that 
morning  told  of  his  passing  away  in  his  sleep. 

RALPH  STOUT 


ROOSEVELT 
IN  THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR 


DR.  FITZSIMONS'S  DEATH1 
SEPTEMBER  17,  1917 

THE  first  name  on  the  casualty  list  of  the  American 
army  in  France  is  that  of  Dr.  William  T.  Fitzsimons, 
of  Kansas  City,  killed  in  a  German  air  raid  on  our 
hospitals.  Dr.  Fitzsimons  had  already  served  for 
some  time  in  a  French  hospital.  As  soon  as  this  Na 
tion  went  to  war  he  volunteered  for  service  abroad. 

There  is  sometimes  a  symbolic  significance  in  the 
first  death  in  a  war.  It  is  so  in  this  case.  To  the 
mother  he  leaves,  the  personal  grief  must  in  some 
degree  be  relieved  by  the  pride  in  the  fine  and  gallant 
life  which  has  been  crowned  by  the  great  sacrifice. 
We,  his  fellow  countrymen,  share  this  pride  and 
sympathize  with  this  sorrow.  But  his  death  should 
cause  us  more  than  pride  or  sorrow;  for  in  striking 
fashion  it  illustrates  the  two  lessons  this  war  should 
especially  teach  us  —  German  brutality  and  Amer 
ican  unpreparedness. 

The  first  lesson  is  the  horror  of  Germany's  calcu 
lated  brutality.  As  part  of  her  deliberate  policy  of 

1  Although  Colonel  Roosevelt  did  not  begin  his  regular  contribu 
tions  to  The  Star  until  October  I,  the  death  of  Dr.  W.  T.  Fitzsimons, 
of  Kansas  City,  moved  him  to  send  this  article. 


:SH  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

frightfulness  she  has  carried  on  a  systematic  cam 
paign  of  murder  against  hospitals  and  hospital  ships. 
The  first  American  in  our  army  to  die  was  killed  in 
one  of  these  typical  raids.  We  should  feel  stern 
indignation  against  Germany  for  the  brutality  of 
which  this  was  merely  one  among  innumerable  in 
stances.  But  we  should  feel  even  sterner  indignation 
towards  —  and  fathomless  contempt  for  —  the  base 
or  unthinking  folly  of  those  Americans  who  aid  and 
abet  the  authors  of  such  foul  wickedness;  and  these 
include  all  men  and  women  who  in  any  way  apolo 
gize  for  or  uphold  Germany,  who  assail  any  of  our 
allies,  who  oppose  our  taking  active  part  in  the  war, 
or  who  desire  an  inconclusive  peace. 

The  second  lesson  is  our  unpreparedness.  We  are 
in  the  eighth  month  since  Germany  went  to  war 
against  us;  and  we  are  still  only  at  the  receiving 
end  of  the  game.  We  have  not  in  France  a  single 
man  on  the  fighting  line.  The  first  American  killed 
was  a  doctor.  No  German  soldier  is  yet  in  jeopardy 
from  anything  we  have  done. 

The  military  work  we  are  now  doing  is  work  of 
preparation.  It  should  have  been  done  just  three 
years  ago.  Nine  tenths  of  wisdom  is  being  wise  in 
time. 


BLOOD,  IRON,  AND  GOLD 

SEPTEMBER  23,  1917 

BISMARCK  announced  that  his  policy  for  Germany 
was  one  of  blood  and  iron.  The  men  who  now  guide, 


latic  cam- 
pital  ships, 
is  killed  in 
feel  stern 
-utality  of 
lerable  in- 
idignation 
-  the  base 
10  aid  and 
and  these 
/ay  apolo- 
my  of  our 
n  the  war, 

3.  We  are 
nt  to  war 
receiving 
e  a  single 
can  killed 
t  jeopardy 

s  work  of 
just  three 
ig  wise  in 


Germany 
LOW  guide, 


BLOOD,  IRON,  AND  GOLD  3 

and  for  some  decades  have  guided,  German  inter 
national  policy  have  added  gold  as  the  third  weapon 
in  Germany's  armory. 

To  a  policy  based  on  callous  disregard  of  death  and 
suffering,  and  the  brutal  use  of  force,  they  have 
added  the  habitual  and  extensive  employment  of 
corruption  as  a  means  for  weakening  their  foes  and 
bending  other  nations  to  their  service. 

The  Administration  at  Washington  recently  made 
public  the  proof  that  Ambassador  Bernstorff,  on 
behalf  of  the  German  Government,  was,  up  to  the 
very  last  moment  of  his  stay,  engaged  in  efforts  to 
bribe  with  German  money  American  organizations 
or  individuals  who  could  be  used  to  further  Ger 
many's  purpose  by  protesting  against  war,  demand 
ing  peace  at  any  price,  opposing  the  measures 
necessary  for  war,  denouncing  the  Allied  nations, 
praising  unpreparedness,  or  by  some  other  of  the 
methods  habitual  with  pro-German  Senators,  Con 
gressmen,  editors,  heads  of  peace  societies  and  the 
like. 

No  well-informed  man  was  surprised  at  the  revela 
tion.  Every  reasonably  well-informed  man,  who  has 
known  about  matters  at  Washington,  has  known 
that  for  nearly  three  years  German  money  and  gov 
ernmental  power  has  been  used  for  the  corruption  of 
American  newspapers  and  pacifist  organizations  and 
for  the  pay  of  German,  and  the  bribery  of  native, 
scoundrels  to  wreck  our  industries  with  dynamite 
and  in  all  ways  debauch  our  political  life.  The  Gov 
ernment,  from  the  highest  official  down,  knew  all 


4  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

these  facts  over  two  years  ago.  The  New  York 
World  published  the  names  of  some  of  the  editors 
and  other  individuals  who  had  received  money,  and 
the  amounts  received.  The  Austrian  Ambassador, 
Dumba,  and  two  of  the  German  attaches,  Boy-Ed 
and  Von  Papen,  were  dismissed  for  inspiring  and 
countenancing  the  intrigues.  It  was  absolutely  im 
possible  that  what  they  did  was  not  ordered  and 
supervised  by  Bernstorff,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Berlin  Government.  It  was  deeply  to  our  discredit 
that  we  did  not  then  show  the  courage  and  manliness 
to  break  at  once  with  Germany,  instead  of  hiding 
our  heads  in  the  sand  so  as  to  avoid  seeing  the  guilt 
of  the  German  Government,  and  punishing  the 
minor  instruments  of  wrongdoing  who,  under  no  con 
ceivable  circumstances,  would  or  could  have  acted 
save  as  their  superiors  bade  them  act.  Germany  has 
hitherto  been  able  to  do  but  little  against  us  with 
blood  and  iron;  gold  has  been  her  weapon,  and  her 
agents  have  been  the  foes  of  our  own  household. 

Every  man  in  this  country  who  is  now  playing  the 
pro-German  game  should  be  made  to  feel  that  he 
must  overcome  a  presumption  of  guilty  motive. 
There  are  misguided  pro-Germans  who  are  unin 
fluenced  by  corrupt  motives,  just  as  there  were  in 
the  Civil  War  copperheads  who  were  merely  mis 
guided  and  not  conscious  wrongdoers.  But  these 
men  are  in  mighty  unpleasant  company! 

The  pacifist,  the  man  who  wishes  a  peace  without 
victory,  the  supporter  of  Senator  La  Follette  or 
Senator  Stone,  the  man  who  in  any  way  now  aids 


GHOST  DANCE  OF  THE  SHADOW  HUNS  5 

Germany,  may  be  honest;  but  he  stands  cheek  by 
jowl  with  hired  traitors,  and  he  is  serving  the  cause 
of  the  malignant  and  unscrupulous  enemies  of  his 
country. 


THE  GHOST  DANCE  OF  THE  SHADOW 

HUNS 
OCTOBER  i,  1917 

TEN  days  ago  a  ghost  dance  was  held  in  St.  Paul 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Non-Partisan  League,  with 
Senator  La  Follette  as  the  star  performer.  We  have 
the  authority  of  the  German  Kaiser  for  the  use  of  the 
word  Hun  in  a  descriptive  sense,  as  representing  the 
ideal  to  which  he  wished  his  soldiers  in  their  actions 
to  approximate.  It  is  therefore  fair  to  use  the  word 
descriptively  as  a  substitute  for  the  German  in  this 
war.  It  is  also  fair  to  use  it  descriptively  of  the 
German  sympathizer  in  this  country,  of  the  man  who 
aids  and  abets  Germany  by  condoning  the  German 
offenses  against  us,  by  seeking  to  raise  class  division 
in  this  country,  with,  of  course,  the  attendant  benefit 
to  Germany;  by  screaming  against  the  war,  or  in 
favor  of  an  inconclusive  peace;  or  by  belittling  or 
sneering  at  or  declaring  inopportune  the  effort  to 
arouse  the  spirit  of  Americanism.  The  Americans 
who  thus  serve  Germany  deserve  the  title  of  Shadow 
Huns. 

It  was  to  me  a  matter  of  sincere  regret  to  have  the 
Non-Partisan  League  play  the  part  it  did  at  St.  Paul 


6  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

in  connection  with  the  meeting  which  Senator  La 
Follette  addressed.  They  held  what  was  in  effect  a 
disloyalty  day  festival.  When  the  Non-Partisan 
League  movement  was  first  started,  I  was  inclined 
to  hail  it,  because  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  to  do 
everything  in  my  power  to  grapple  with  and  remedy 
every  injustice  or  wrong  or  mere  failure  to  give  ample 
opportunity  to  the  farmer.  With  most  of  the 
avowed  objects  and  with  some  of  the  methods  of  the 
Non-Partisan  League  I  was  in  entire  sympathy,  al 
though  there  were  certain  things  it  did  which  I  felt 
should  be  condemned,  and  certain  ways  of  achieving 
its  objects  which  I  believed  to  be  mischievous.  But 
when  the  League,  on  the  disloyalty  day  in  question, 
ranged  itself  on  the  side  of  the  allies  of  Germany  and 
the  enemies  of  this  country,  it  became  necessary  for 
every  loyal  American  severely  to  condemn  it.  Mor 
ally,  although  doubtless  not  legally,  it  thereby  came 
perilously  near  ranging  itself  beside  the  I.W.W.,  the 
German-American  Alliance,  and  the  German  Social 
ist  party  machine  in  America. 

When  I  spoke  in  Minneapolis  three  men  spoke 
from  the  same  platform  with  me.  One  was  that  fine 
and  loyal  American,  Governor  Burnquist,  of  Swed 
ish  ancestry.  One  was  a  blacksmith,  born  in  Sweden, 
a  former  member  of  the  Socialist  party,  who  left  the 
party  within  the  last  six  months  when  he  became 
convinced  that  it  was  the  tool  or  ally  of  German 
autocracy.  The  third  was  another  working-man,  of 
German  birth. 

At  the  meeting  in  Wisconsin  I  was  on  the  platform 


GHOST  DANCE  OF  THE  SHADOW  HUNS  7 

with  the  Mayor  of  Racine,  an  American  citizen  of 
German  birth.  My  companions  throughout  the  trip 
were  Judge  Harry  Olson,  of  Swedish  parentage,  and 
Mr.  Otto  Butz,  of  German  parentage,  both  of  whom 
represent  that  kind  of  Americanism  to  which  we  all 
must  subscribe  if  we  are  to  be  good  Americans. 

The  Americanism  of  all  these  men  is  the  American 
ism  I  profess,  and  it  is  the  exact  antithesis  of  the 
attitude  of  the  Shadow  Huns,  who,  under  the  lead  of 
native-born  Americans  like  Messrs.  La  Follette  and 
Townley,  by  their  utterances,  stir  dissensions  among 
our  own  people  and  weaken  us  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  war. 

The  two  working-men  of  whom  I  speak,  the  man 
born  in  Sweden  and  the  man  born  in  Germany,  spoke 
with  rugged  emphasis  of  their  devotion  to  this 
country,  and  of  their  sense  of  the  duty  of  every  man 
fit  to  be  called  an  American  in  this  crisis.  They 
emphasized  the  fact  that  Germany's  social  system 
was  based  upon  the  duty  of  the  average  man  to 
cringe  before  the  insolence  of  his  superiors  and  his 
right  himself  to  behave  with  insolence  to  his  in 
feriors.  It  is  for  this  system  of  cringing  abasement 
before  the  powerful,  and  of  brutal  insolence  to  the 
weak  for  which  the  Shadow  Huns  in  this  country 
stand  when  they  directly  or  indirectly  talk  against 
our  Government  for  going  to  war  or  talk  against  any 
step  which  it  takes  for  the  efficient  waging  of  the 
war;  and,  above  all,  when  they  directly  or  indirectly 
apologize  for  or  champion  Germany. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  American  citizen  fearlessly, 


8  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

but  truthfully,  to  criticize  not  only  his  Government 
but  his  people,  for  wrongdoing,  or  for  failure  to  do 
what  is  right.  It  is  his  duty  to  obey  the  injunction 
of  President  Wilson  by  insisting  upon  pitiless  pub 
licity  of  inefficiency,  of  subordination  of  public  to 
private  considerations,  or  of  any  other  form  of  gov 
ernmental  failure  to  perform  duty.  Such  criticism 
is  absolutely  indispensable  if  we  are  to  do  our  duty 
in  this  war,  and  if  we  are  to  adopt  a  permanent 
policy  of  preparedness  which  will  make  this  Nation 
safe.  But  the  men  who  oppose  the  war;  who  fail  to 
support  the  Government  in  every  measure  which 
really  tends  to  the  efficient  prosecution  of  the  war; 
and  above  all  who  in  any  shape  or  way  champion  the 
cause  and  the  actions  of  Germany,  show  themselves 
to  be  the  Huns  within  our  own  gates  and  the  allies 
of  the  men  whom  our  sons  and  brothers  are  crossing 
the  ocean  to  fight. 

I  do  not  admire  these  Shadow  Huns.  But  least 
of  all  do  I  admire  those  among  them,  whether 
Senators,  Congressmen,  or  public  officials  of  any 
other  kind  who,  although  on  Uncle  Sam's  pay-roll, 
nevertheless  seek  to  stab  Uncle  Sam  in  the  back. 


SAM  WELLER  AND   MR.  SNODGRASS 
OCTOBER  2,  1917 

READERS  of  "  Pickwick,"  if  such  there  still  be,  will 
recall  the  time  when  Mr.  Pickwick  was  arrested  and 
some  of  his  followers  resisted  arrest.  Sam  Weller 


SAM  WELLER  AND  MR.  SNODGRASS        9 

made  no  boasts;  but  he  spoiled  the  looks  of  various 
opponents.  Mr.  Snodgrass  began  ostentatiously  to 
take  off  his  coat,  announcing  in  a  loud  voice  that  he 
was  going  to  begin.  But  he  gave  no  further  trouble. 

Over  eight  months  have  elapsed  since  Germany 
went  to  war  with  us,  and  we  severed  relations  with 
Germany  as  the  first  move  in  our  sixty  days'  stern 
foremost  drift  into,  not  going  to,  war,  but  admitting 
that  we  were  already  at  war.  During  those  eight 
months  we  have  paid  the  penalty  for  our  criminally 
complete  failure  to  prepare  during  the  previous 
three  years  by  not  having  yet  to  our  credit  one  single 
piece  of  completed  achievement.  The  Administra 
tion  has  unwisely  striven  to  cover  this  past  failure 
to  prepare,  and  present  failure  to  achieve,  by  occa 
sional  grandiloquent  pronunciamentos  as  to  the 
wonderful  things  we  are  going  to  do  in  the  future; 
and  usually  the  language  used  is  designed  to  con 
vince  ignorant  people  that  these  things  have  already 
been  done. 

One  day  it  is  announced  that  we  have  discovered 
an  infallible  remedy  against  submarine  attacks;  and 
the  next  day  it  is  announced  that  the  toll  by  sub 
marines  is  heavier  than  during  any  previous  month. 
We  read  that  the  British  drive  is  successful,  but  stub 
bornly  resisted;  that  some  thousands  of  prisoners 
have  been  taken;  and  that  the  losses  have  been 
terribly  heavy.  We  read  at  the  same  time  that  we 
are  going  to  have  an  immense  army  of  aircraft  — 
some  time  next  spring.  And  actually  there  is  less 
boasting  over  the  former  statement  than  over  the 


io  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

latter!  We  read  of  the  valor  and  suffering  of  the 
French  in  some  heroic  assault;  and  the  Administra 
tion  proudly  announces  that,  after  eight  months,  the 
drafted  men  are  beginning  to  assemble  in  their  camps 
-  and  omits  to  mention  that  they  have  neither  guns 
no'r  uniforms,  are  short  of  blankets  and  sweaters. 

So  far  the  Sam  Wellers  who  have  done  things  are 
our  allies.  Uncle  Sam  is  still  complacently  engaged 
in  taking  off  his  coat,  like  Mr.  Snodgrass.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  unwise  for  him  to  announce 
overloudly  what  he  is  going  to  do  when  at  last  he 
begins.  Let  him  wait  until  he  has  done  it;  and 
meanwhile  bend  all  his  energies  to  doing  it,  and  doing 
it  soon.  Brag  is  a  good  dog.  But  Holdfast  is  a 
better. 

BROOMSTICK  PREPAREDNESS 

OCTOBER  4,  1917 

AT  present  we  Americans  have  two  prime  duties. 

The  first  is  to  make  the  best  of  actual  conditions; 
to  prepare  our  army,  navy,  merchant  marine,  air 
service,  munition  plants,  agriculture,  food  conserva 
tion,  and  everything  else  as  speedily  as  possible, 
so  as  to  fight  this  war  to  a  completely  victorious 
conclusion. 

The  second  is  not  to  fool  ourselves,  but  to  face 
the  fact  of  our  complete  and  lamentable  unprepared- 
ness.  And  to  inaugurate  a  policy  of  permanent  pre 
paredness  which  will  prevent  our  ever  again  being 
caught  in  such  a  humiliating  condition. 


BROOMSTICK  PREPAREDNESS  n 

The  men  of  the  national  guard  and  of  the  drafted 
army  are  of  admirable  type.  I  do  not  believe  that 
any  other  great  nation  can  produce  quite  their  equals 
on  such  a  scale  as  we  can;  the  zeal,  energy,  and 
adaptable  intelligence  with  which  they  are  doing  all 
they  can  in  the  various  camps  must  be  a  matter  of 
pride  for  all  Americans.  There  is  all  the  more  reason 
why  such  first-class  material  should  be  given  a  first- 
class  chance  for  speedy  and  efficient  action.  It  has 
not  been  given  that  chance.  The  steps  we  as  a  nation 
are  now  taking  ought  to  have  been  taken  three  years 
ago.  Failure  to  take  them  then  has  meant  broom 
stick  preparedness  now.  Failure  to  take  them  as  a 
permanent  policy  now  means  broomstick  prepared-* 
ness  in  some  future  vital  crisis  when  we  may  not 
have  allies  willing  and  able  to  protect  us  while  we 
slowly  prepare  to  meet  the  enemy. 

The  Ordnance  Bureau  of  the  War  Department 
admits  that  we  have  not  rifles  for  our  national  army, 
but  attempts  to  excuse  matters  by  saying  that  it  is 
of  no  consequence  because  we  shall  have  rifles  a  few 
months  hence  when  our  men  are  ready  to  go  abroad. 
The  admission  is  correct.  The  excuse  is  not.  Even 
for  training,  it  is  better  to  arm  infantrymen  each 
with  the  weapon  he  is  to  use  rather  than  to  give  each 
man  a  broomstick  or  to  give  every  four  men  an 
antiquated  rifle  which  cannot  be  used  in  service,  and 
most  of  our  artillery  regiments  at  present  either  have 
no  guns  or  wooden  guns  or,  in  rather  rare  cases,  old- 
style  guns  which  cannot  be  matched  against  any 
present-day  artillery.  Moreover,  and  this  is  the  vital 


12  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

point,  we  now  have  the  time  to  prepare  only  because 
the  English  and  French  fleets  and  armies  protect  us. 
Eight  months  have  passed  since  Germany  openly 
went  to  war  with  us.  As  yet  we  have  not  rifles  for 
our  infantry.  As  yet  we  have  not  guns  for  our  artil 
lery.  It  will  be  at  least  a  year  after  we  were  dragged 
into  the  war  before  our  army  will  have  received  the 
weapons  with  which  we  are  to  wage  the  war. 

This  is  broomstick  preparedness,  and  there  is  not 
the  slightest  use  in  trying  to  justify  or  excuse  broom 
stick  preparedness. 


THE  BONDHOLDERS   AND  THE  PEOPLE 

OCTOBER  7,  1917 

NOT  many  years  ago  one  of  the  favorite  cries  of 
those  who  wished  to  exploit  for  their  own  advantage 
the  often  justifiable  popular  unrest  and  discontent 
was  that  "  the  people  were  oppressed  in  the  interest 
of  the  bondholders."  The  more  ardent  souls  of  this 
type  wished  to  repudiate  the  national  debt,  to  "  wipe 
it  out  as  with  a  sponge,"  in  order  to  remove  the 
"  oppression."  The  bondholders  were  always  held  up 
as  greedy  creatures  who  had  obtained  an  unfair 
advantage  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 

Well,  the  Liberty  Loan  now  offers  the  chance  to 
make  the  people  and  the  bondholders  interchange 
able  terms.  The  bonds  are  issued  in  such  a  way  that 
the  farmer  and  the  wage-worker  have  exactly  the 
same  chance  as  the  banker  to  purchase  and  hold  as 


FACTORIES  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP       13 

many  or  as  few  as  they  wish.  No  matter  how  small  a 
man's  means,  he  can  get  some  part  of  a  bond  if  he 
wishes.  The  Government  and  the  big  financiers  are 
doing  all  they  can  to  make  the  sale  as  widely  dis 
tributed  as  possible.  Some  bankers  are  serving 
without  pay  in  the  effort  to  put  all  the  facts  before 
the  people  as  a  whole,  and  30  make  the  loan  in  very 
truth  a  people's  loan.  It  rests  with  the  people  them 
selves  to  decide  whether  it  shall  be  such. 

The  Government  must  have  the  money.  It  is  a 
patriotic  duty  to  purchase  the  bonds.  And  they  offer 
an  absolutely  safe  investment.  The  money  invested 
is  invested  on  the  best  security  in  the  world  —  that 
of  the  United  States;  of  the  American  Nation  itself. 
The  money  cannot  be  lost  unless  the  United  States 
is  destroyed,  and  in  that  case  we  would  all  of  us  be 
smashed  anyhow,  so  that  it  would  not  make  any 
difference.  The  people  can,  if  they  choose,  now 
make  themselves  the  bondholders.  If  they  do  not  so 
choose,  and  if  they  force  Wall  Street  to  become  the 
largest  purchaser  of  the  bonds,  which  must  be  bought 
somehow,  then  they  will  have  no  right  in  the  future 
to  grumble  about  the  bondholders  as  a  special  class. 
We  can  now,  all  of  us,  join  that  class  if  we  wish. 

FACTORIES  OF  GOOD   CITIZENSHIP 
OCTOBER  10,  1917 

THE  training  camps  for  the  drafted  men  of  the  na 
tional  army  are  huge  factories  for  turning  out  first- 
class  American  citizens.  Not  only  are  they  fitting 


I4  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

our  people  for  war;  they  are  fitting  them  for  the 
work  of  peace.  They  are  making  patriotism,  love  of 
country,  devotion  to  the  flag,  and  a  sense  of  duty  to 
others  living  facts,  instead  of  unreal  phrases.  The 
public  schools  are  laboratories  of  Americanism  for 
our  children;  the  training  camps  are  laboratories  of 
Americanism  for  our  young  men. 

I  have  just  seen  a  party  of  drafted  men  from  the 
East  Side  of  New  York  City  start  for  Camp  Upton 
with  a  band  playing,  an  American  flag  flying.  And 
two  of  their  number  in  front,  one  dressed  as  Uncle 
Sam,  and  the  other  as  the  Kaiser,  dragged  along  in 
manacles.  There  is  no  fifty-fifty  Americanism  in 
men  with  such  spirit.  A  captain  at  this  camp,  a 
Plattsburg  man,  told  me  that  his  company  of  East 
Side  New  Yorkers  showed  all  the  intelligence  and  the 
zealous  desire  to  learn  which  the  fine  young  college 
graduates  at  Plattsburg  have  shown.  Another  cap 
tain  told  me  that  one  of  his  men,  a  young  Jew,  had 
come  to  him  and  said  that  at  first  the  East  Siders  had 
hated  coming,  not  knowing  what  was  ahead  of  them, 
but  that  now  they  felt  that  they  were  in  a  University 
of  American  Citizenship.  A  surgeon  in  the  camp 
told  me  that  men  also,  proved  physically  lacking  after 
a  week's  trial,  were  in  most  cases  bitterly  chagrined 
at  being  sent  away.  A  colonel  from  a  Southern  camp 
has  reported  that  already  his  country  boys  from  the 
remote  farms  are  straightening  and  broadening  mor 
ally,  mentally,  and  physically,  and  that  the  improve 
ment  is  really  incalculable.  From  every  camp  we 
hear  of  the  eagerness  with  which  the  men  are  doing 


FACTORIES  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP       15 

their  duty,  of  their  resourcefulness  and  of  the  real 
patriotism  which  is  being  rapidly  learned.  All  this 
means  not  merely  good  soldiers  in  war,  but  good 
citizens  in  peace;  it  means  an  immense  growth  in 
the  spirit  of  Americanism. 

The  young  men  are  learning  to  be  efficient,  alert, 
self- respectful  and  respectful  of  others;  they  are 
learning  to  scorn  laziness,  slackness,  and  cowardice. 
All  are  serving  on  a  precise  equality  of  privilege  and 
of  duty  and  are  judged  each  only  on  his  merits.  The 
sons  of  the  foreign-born  learn  that  they  are  exactly 
as  good  Americans  as  any  one  else,  and  when  they 
return  to  their  home  their  families  will  learn  it,  too. 

Let  all  good  Americans  insist  that  now,  without 
delay,  we  make  this  state  of  affairs  our  permanent 
national  policy  by  law.  We  have  built  the  camp,  we 
have  encountered  the  failures  to  provide  army  uni 
forms  and  blankets  and  all  the  other  exasperating 
delays  which  are  inevitable  when  a  nation  like  ours 
has  foolishly  trusted  to  broomstick  preparedness. 
We  shall  avoid  all  these  things  for  the  future  if  we 
continue  these  camps,  as  permanent  features  of  the 
life  of  all  our  young  men,  and  change  the  selective 
draft  unto  a  system  of  universal  obligatory  military 
training  for  all  our  young  men  of  nineteen  and 
twenty,  it  being  understood  that  they  are  not  to 
go  to  war  until  they  are  twenty-one.  We  are  now 
suffering,  and  the  whole  world  is  now  suffering,  from 
the  effects  of  our  broomstick  preparedness.  Let  us 
do  away  with  broomstick  preparedness  for  the  future 
and  substitute  real  preparedness. 


16  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

• 
PILLAR-OF-SALT  CITIZENSHIP 

OCTOBER  12,  1917 

WHEN  Lot's  wife  was  journeying  to  safety,  she  could 
not  resist  looking  back  to  the  land  she  had  left  and 
was  thereupon  turned  to  a  pillar  of  salt.  The  men 
from  the  Old  World  who,  instead  of  adopting  an 
attitude  of  hearty  and  exclusive  loyalty  to  their 
land,  try  also  to  look  backward  to  their  old  countries, 
become  pillars-of-salt  citizens,  who  are  not  merely 
useless,  but  mischievous  members  of  our  common 
wealth. 

The  dispatches  of  the  German  Government,  just 
published  by  the  State  Department,  give  us  an 
illuminating  glimpse,  not  only  of  German  methods 
and  of  German  conduct  towards  this  country,  but 
also  of  certain  phases  of  our  own  citizenship.  The 
German  Government  proposed  to  use  this  country 
as  a  basis  of  operations  for  wrecking  the  Canadian 
railway.  It  also  proposed  to  use  and  pay  its  agents 
and  certain  of  our  citizens  for  "  sabotage  in  every 
kind  of  American  factory  for  supplying  munitions  of 
war,"  and  for  "  a  vigorous  campaign  to  secure  a 
majority  in  both  houses  favorable  to  Germany." 
The  German  staff,  in  issuing  these  directions  and  in 
naming  certain  American  citizens  as  tools  for  the 
treacherous  work,  insisted  that  the  embassy  should 
not  be  compromised  and  that  "  similar  precautions 
must  be  taken  in  regard  to  Irish  pro-German 
propaganda." 


PILLAR-OF-SALT  CITIZENSHIP  17 

Good  citizens  who  have  been  misled  by  false 
counsel  must  now  clearly  see  that  the  campaign  of 
dynamite  against  our  industries,  with  the  attendant 
wreckage  and  murder,  was  a  deliberate  act  of  secret 
war  by  the  German  Government;  that  the  attempt 
by  Americans  to  secure  an  embargo  on  sending  muni 
tions  to  the  Allies  was  an  effort  to  aid  Germany  in 
thus  making  war  on  the  United  States;  that  the 
Irish  pro-German  movement  in  this  country  was 
financed  and  guided  from  Germany,  and  that  our 
citizens,  whether  of  foreign  or  native  birth,  whether 
of  native  American  or  German  or  Irish  origin,  who 
took  part  in  pushing  these  movements,  were  doing 
substantially  the  same  kind  of  work  that  Benedict 
Arnold  once  tried  to  do. 

Some  of  them  were  doubtless  paid,  others  were 
doubtless  not  paid,  but  the  paid  and  the  unpaid 
alike  were  serving  Germany  against  the  United 
States.  These  matters  are  now  all  of  public  record. 
The  excuse  of  ignorance  can  no  longer  avail  any  one. 
Henceforth  the  citizens  of  German  or  Irish  birth 
who  take  part  in  such  activities  as  those  of  most  of 
the  German-American  alliances  and  the  like,  are  at 
best  standing  in  the  position  of  pillar-of-salt  citi 
zenship;  at  worst  they,  and  above  all  their  native 
American  associates,  who  now  indulge  in  pacifist 
movements  or  demand  a  peace  without  overwhelm 
ing  victory  or  ask  for  a  referendum  on  the  war,  or 
in  any  other  way  serve  the  brutal  and  conscience 
less  ambition  of  Germany,  stand  unpleasantly  near 
the  lonely  eminence  occupied  by  Benedict  Arnold. 


18  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 


BROOMSTICK  APOLOGISTS 
OCTOBER  14,  1917 

THE  chief  of  the  Ordnance  Bureau  of  the  army,  in 
commenting  on  the  shortage  of  rifles,  has  said  that 
it  is  of  no  consequence,  because  "  every  soldier  will 
be  supplied  a  rifle  when  he  starts  for  France." 

Of  course  he  will,  otherwise  he  cannot  start.  One 
of  the  leading  papers  of  New  York  backs  up  the 
statement  by  saying  that  the  "  drilling  in  the  camps 
without  rifles  is  ended  now"  and  that  "General 
Crozier  delayed  the  work  so  as  to  get  rifles  with  the 
same  ammunition  our  allies  are  using." 

Neither  statement  is  correct.  The  last  is  the  re 
verse  of  truth.  On  October  2  in  one  camp  there  were 
still  only  one  hundred  rifles  for  twenty  thousand 
men  and  other  camps  were  scarcely  better  off,  and 
the  delay  in  getting  rifles  during  the  last  eight 
months  has  been  due  primarily  to  the  refusal  of  the 
Ordnance  Department  to  get  rifles  using  the  am 
munition  of  our  allies. 

If  during  the  two  years  preceding  our  entry  into 
the  war  the  Government  factories  had  been  run  full 
speed,  we  would  have  had  over  two  million  of 
Springfield  rifles  instead  of  under  one  million.  Our 
shortage  was  due  solely  to  our  policy  of  dawdle.  Our 
factories  produced  a  mere  dribble  of  rifles  and  no  big 
field  guns  until  the  inevitable  happened. 

War  came.  Having  no  rifles  of  our  own  for  the 
new  army,  the  War  Department  decided  to  adopt 


BROOMSTICK  APOLOGISTS  19 

the  English  rifle,  the  Enfield,  which  was  being  built 
in  this  country  at  the  rate  of  nearly  nine  thousand 
a  day  in  private  plants,  and  by  speeding  them  up  the 
number  could  have  been  immediately  increased 
to  fourteen  thousand  a  day.  But  the  authorities 
insisted  that  the  Enfields  should  be  changed  to  take 
our  ammunition,  and  that  certain  parts  should  be 
standardized  and  made  interchangeable.  As  regards 
this  excuse,  it  is  sufficient  to  point  out  that  in  the 
first  place  it  was  a  very  grave  error,  while  making 
the  parts  of  our  Enfields  interchangeable,  at  the 
same  time  to  make  their  ammunition  not  inter 
changeable  with  that  of  the  British  Enfields,  for  the 
number  of  Springfields  on  hand  was  negligible  com 
pared  to  the  millions  of  rifles  we  would  ultimately 
need,  and  in  the  second  place  the  delay  even  for  this 
purpose  was  wholly  inexcusable.  The  German  sub 
marine  note  came  on  January  31.  An  alert  War  De 
partment  would  have  had  its  rifle  programme  mi 
nutely  mapped  out  within  two  weeks.  The  delay  in 
furnishing  final  specifications  to  the  factories  was 
such  that  they  could  not  begin  on  the  complete  rifle 
until  the  latter  part  of  August.  Six  months  is  a 
"  perfectly  endurable  delay  "  only  if  we  are  content 
to  accept  the  speed  standards  in  war  of  Tiglath- 
Pileser  and  Pharaoh  Necho.  The  United  States  must 
learn  to  adopt  the  war  speed  standards  of  the  Twen 
tieth  Century,  A.D.,  instead  of  those  of  the  Seventh 
Century,  B.C. 

If  in  April  we  had  been  ready  to  proceed  with  the 
Enfield  rifle,  we  would  now  have  about  two  million 


20  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

of  the  new  rifles  instead  of  about  one-fiftieth  of  that 
number.  General  Crozier  says  that  we  have  only 
had  to  wait  "  two  or  three  months  —  a  perfectly  en 
durable  delay."  Surely  if  there  is  anything  this  war 
teaches  it  is  the  vital  importance  of  time.  Two  or 
three  months'  waiting  in  order  to  get  a  rifle  which 
does  not  carry  the  ammunition  of  our  allies  repre 
sents  not  merely  an  undesirable  delay  but  grave 
unwisdom. 

General  Crowder  handled  the  draft  to  perfection 
because  he  appreciated  that  the  difference  between 
sending  a  telegram  at  5  or  at  4:45  might  be  of  mo 
mentous  consequence.  General  Crozier  has  bungled 
the  rifle  situation  because  of  the  attitude  which 
makes  him  regard  two  or  three  months  as  "  a  per 
fectly  endurable  delay." 

For  two  years  and  a  half  before  entering  the  war 
we  relied  upon  broomstick  preparedness.  For  the 
first  eight  months  of  the  war  we  have  followed  the 
same  policy  as  regards  the  vital  matter  of  rifles  for 
our  troops. 

THE  LIBERTY  LOAN  AND  THE 
PRO-GERMANS 

OCTOBER  16,  1917 

MR.  VICTOR  BERGER,  the  Socialist  leader  of  Mil 
waukee,  is  reported  in  the  press  as  sneering  at  the 
Liberty  bonds,  berating  the  Administration  for,  as 
he  says,  appointing  thirty-three  wealthy  capitalists 
on  the  National  Council  of  Defense,  and  in  effect 


LIBERTY  LOAN  AND  THE  PRO-GERMANS    21 

seeming  to  persuade  his  hearers  that  they  ought,  at 
this  crisis  of  foreign  war,  to  be  hostile  to  those  of 
their  countrymen  who  are  "  capitalists  "  instead  of 
the  Kaiser. 

This  is  natural.  The  Socialist  party  machine  in 
this  country  is  run  by  Germans.  Socialists,  who 
were  sincerely  desirous  of  social  betterment  and  who 
were  sincere  in  this  hatred  of  tyranny  and  wrong 
doing,  have  left  the  Socialist  party.  Those  who  re 
main  in  it  have  turned  it  into  a  mere  tool  of  the 
brutal  militaristic  autocracy  which  now  threatens 
the  world.  These  men  are  completely  dominated  by 
the  Germans,  and  German  Socialists  in  America 
have  shown  in  this  crisis  that  they  are  Germans 
first,  Socialists  a  long  way  second,  and  not  Ameri 
cans  at  all.  In  fact,  they  are  venomously  hostile 
to  the  country  in  which  they  dwell  and  claim  citizen 
ship,  and  are  eagerly  ready  to  sacrifice  Socialism 
itself  to  the  interests  of  the  Germany  of  the  Hohen- 
zollerns.  They  stand  well  to  the  front  among  the 
Shadow  Huns  who,  within  our  gates,  are  the  allies  of 
the  Huns  without  our  gates. 

While  in  Wisconsin  I  was  told  that  the  German- 
American  Alliance,  in  its  efforts  to  persuade  American 
citizens  to  betray  their  citizenship  in  the  interests 
of  Germany,  had  relatively  as  many  adherents 
among  the  Socialists  as  among  the  two  great  parties. 

When  the  Socialists  under  such  leadership  oppose 
or  sneer  at  the  Liberty  Loan,  it  is  proof  positive  that 
all  patriotic  citizens  should  buy  Liberty  bonds  up  to 
the  limit  of  their  ability.  The  Socialists  attack  the 


22  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Liberty  Loan  in  order  to  hurt  America  and  help 
Germany.  The  domination  of  "  American  capital 
ism  "  is  a  mere  blind  to  obscure  the  service  they  are 
trying  to  render  to  the  capitalists  and  militarists  of 
Germany. 

For  the  composition  of  the  National  Council  of 
Defense,  I  am  sorry  that  more  labor  men  and  farmers 
are  not  on  it,  but  I  wish  they  could  be  put  on  in  addi 
tion  to,  not  as  substitutes  for,  the  men  of  means  who 
are  on  it,  for  these  men  of  means,  taken  as  a  whole, 
have  at  much  cost  to  themselves  rendered  devoted 
and  invaluable  service  to  the  Nation.  Their  absence 
would  be  a  general  calamity  to  America  and  a  great 
aid  to  Germany,  and  all  true  lovers  of  America 
should  recognize  this  fact.  I  know  some  of  these 
men  personally,  and  those  whom  I  know  have  sacri 
ficed  time,  effort,  and  money  in  order  to  be  of  help  to 
the  Nation  at  this  juncture.  In  fact,  I  have  never 
known  more  devoted  public  service  than  that  they 
rendered  at  this  crisis. 

It  is  unpatriotic  at  this  time  to  attack  good  Ameri 
cans  because  they  have  capital  and  are  trying  to 
make  this  capital  of  service  in  the  war.  Capital  is 
necessary  to  business  and  industry,  and  in  this  war 
industrial  efficiency  is  almost  as  necessary  as  military 
skill.  The  factories  at  home  are  almost  as  important 
as  the  armies  in  the  field.  Wise  war  taxation  of 
capital  and  profits  is  eminently  necessary,  but  it 
must  not  go  to  an  extent  that  will  interfere  with  pro 
duction  and  the  forward  movement  of  business,  or 
widespread  calamity  would  result. 


A  DIFFICULT  QUESTION  TO  ANSWER    23 

We  are  a  great  Nation,  engaged  in  a  stupendous 
war.  Let  us  use  dollars  as  we  use  the  loaded  shells, 
and  each  can  do  its  best  work  only  under  the  leader 
ship  of  the  ablest  man:  the  business  man  in  one  case, 
the  military  man  in  the  other.  By  all  means  let  the 
people  be  masters  of  the  capital  of  the  country  at 
the  present  time.  The  surest  way  to  do  this  is  for 
the  people  themselves  to  buy  the  Liberty  bonds 
and  not  leave  them  to  Wall  Street.  They  are  the 
one  absolutely  safe  investment,  both  for  men  of 
small  means  and  men  of  large  means. 


A  DIFFICULT  QUESTION  TO  ANSWER 

OCTOBER  18,  1917 

A  CORRESPONDENT  in  Pueblo,  Colorado,  writes  me 
as  follows: 

By  what  logic  are  we  "at  peace"  with  Austria,  when  she 
is  furnishing  troops  or  artillery  to  Germany  to  fight  and  kill 
our  soldiers  on  the  western  front?  The  same  question  might 
apply  to  Turkey.  Remember,  too,  that  we  are  furnishing 
money  and  supplies  to  Italy,  our  ally,  in  her  struggle  with 
Austria.  The  Western  folks  are  looking  to  you  to  answer 
hard  questions  of  this  sort  for  us  which  we  don't  understand. 

Neither  I  nor  any  one  else  can  satisfactorily  an 
swer  the  question.  A  limited  liability  war  in  which 
we  fight  Germany  ourselves  and  pay  money  to  Italy 
and  Russia  to  enable  them  to  fight  Austria  and 
Turkey,  with  whom  we  are  at  peace,  savors  of  sharp 
practice  and  not  of  statesmanship.  It  is  a  good  rule 


24  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

either  to  stay  out  of  war  or  to  go  into  it,  but  not  to 
try  to  do  both  things  at  once. 

Moreover,  this  matter  squarely  tests  our  sincerity 
when  we  announced  that  we  went  to  war  to  make 
the  world  safe  for  democracy.  The  phrase  must  have 
been  used  in  a  somewhat  oratorical  fashion,  anyhow, 
because  we  have  ourselves  within  the  last  year  or 
two  made  the  world  entirely  unsafe  for  democracy 
in  the  two  small  and  weak  republics  of  Haiti  and 
San  Domingo.  Therefore,  the  phrase  must  have 
meant  that  we  intended  to  make  the  world  safe  for 
well-behaved  nations,  great  or  small,  to  enjoy  their 
liberty  and  govern  themselves  as  they  wished.  If  it 
did  not  mean  this,  the  phrase  was  much  worse  than 
an  empty  flourish,  for  it  was  deliberately  deceitful. 
If  it  did  mean  this,  then  we  are  recreant  to  our 
promise  unless  we  at  once  go  to  war  with  Austria  and 
Turkey. 

Both  these  nations  are  racial  conglomerates,  in 
which  one  or  two  nationalities  tyrannize  over  other 
subject  nationalities.  The  world  will  not  and  can 
not  be  safe  for  democracy  until  the  Armenians,  the 
Syrian  Christians,  and  the  Arabs  are  freed  from 
Turkish  tyranny,  and  until  the  Poles,  Bohemians, 
and  Southern  Slavs,  now  under  the  Austrian  yoke, 
are  made  into  separate,  independent  nations,  and 
until  the  Italians  of  Southwest  Austria  are  restored 
to  Italy  and  the  Rumanians  of  Eastern  Hungary  to 
Rumania. 

Unless  we  propose  in  good  faith  to  carry  out  this 
programme,  we  have  been  guilty  of  a  rhetorical  sham 


NOW  HELP  THE  LIBERTY  LOAN         25 

when  we  pledged  ourselves  to  make  the  world  safe 
for  democracy.  The  United  States  must  not  make 
promises  which  it  has  no  intention  of  performing. 
We  are  breaking  this  promise  and  incidentally  are 
acting  absurdly  every  day  that  we  continue  at 
nominal  peace  with  Germany's  fellow  tyrants  and 
subject  allies,  Austria  and  Turkey. 

NOW  HELP  THE  LIBERTY  LOAN 
OCTOBER  20,  1917 

THE  concrete  services  to  the  United  States  which 
every  decent  American  not  fortunate  enough  to  be  a 
soldier  can  now  render,  is  to  buy  as  many  Liberty 
bonds  as  he  can  afford. 

The  Treasury  Department  has  set  forth  in  the 
public  press  the  facts  about  the  campaign  which  the 
pro-Germans  in  the  United  States  are  waging 
against  the  Liberty  Loan.  The  campaign  is  being 
waged  by  trying  to  prevent  banks  from  handling 
the  Liberty  Loan,  and  by  the  publication  in  certain 
newspapers  of  articles  tending  to  discourage  people 
from  investing  in  the  bonds.  Senator  La  Follette's 
speeches,  which  are  to  the  same  effect,  are  also  being 
circulated  with  a  view  to  check  popular  subscrip 
tions.  Senator  La  Follette,  by  the  way,  represents 
exactly  the  type  which  tries  to  prevent  the  people 
from  owning  the  bonds  and,  nevertheless,  will  in 
the  future  probably  rail  at  the  purchasers  of  the 
bonds  as  having,  somehow  or  other,  obtained  an 
improper  and  excessive  profit. 


26  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Inasmuch  as  the  enemies  of  the  Liberty  Loan  are 
of  this  type,  all  patriotic  Americans  should  strain 
every  nerve  to  make  the  sale  a  success.  Moreover, 
this  happens  to  be  one  of  those  rare  cases  where  the 
performance  of  a  patriotic  duty  is  a  first-class  finan 
cial  investment.  Th'e  patriot  is  rendering  a  great 
service  to  the  Nation  while  he  is  also  making  a 
capital  investment  for  himself.  If  the  people  do 
not  take  the  bonds,  they  will  be  taken  by  the  big 
capitalists.  The  people  have  the  first  call,  and  while 
it  is  desirable  in  the  interest  of  everybody  to  make 
this  a  people's  loan,  it  is  more  desirable  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  people  themselves.  The  invest 
ment  is  absolutely  safe.  The  men  and  women  who 
fail  to  take  advantage  of  it  are  not  standing  by  the 
country  and  they  are  not  standing  by  their  own 
interests.  Every  man,  from  the  day  laborer  to  the 
bank  president,  should,  according  to  his  means, 
invest  in  the  Liberty  bonds. 

A  SQUARE  DEAL  FOR  THE 

TRAINING  CAMPS 

OCTOBER  21,  1917 

THE  Playgrounds  and  Recreation  Association  of 
America  has  undertaken  a  capital  work  in  pushing 
the  War  Camp  Community  Committee,  of  which 
Mr.  John  N.  Willys,  of  Toledo,  is  chairman.  The 
War  Camp  Committee  work  for  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Oklahoma,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Colorado  has  made 
Mr.  I.  R.  Kirkwood  chairman,  and  has  begun  an 


A  SQUARE  DEAL  FOR  TRAINING  CAMPS    27 

active  drive  to  get  the  three-quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  allotted  to  this  district  out  of  the  total  of 
four  million  to  be  raised  in  the  country. 

The  movement  should  receive  the  heartiest  back 
ing.  It  represents  much  more  even  than  the  very 
important  work  of  providing  amusements  for  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  enlisted  men  in  the  various 
camps,  for  it  also  has  to  deal  with  the  moral  and 
sanitary  surroundings,  not  only  in  camps,  but  in 
the  neighboring  towns  and  cities.  In  former  wars 
the  number  of  men  incapacitated  by  diseases  con 
tracted  in  the  camps  often  surpassed  the  number  in 
capacitated  by  the  sickness  due  to  the  hardships  and 
exposure  at  the  front.  This  was  because  of  lax  super 
vision  of  the  neighborhood  moral  and  sanitary  con 
ditions,  and  also  from  failure  to  instruct  the  soldiers 
that  it  is  a  shameful  and  unsoldierly  thing  to  expose 
themselves  to  disease  due  to  indulgence  in  vice. 

The  committee  is  working  not  only  in  the  interests 
of  national  morality  and  decency.  It  is  also  working 
in  the  interest  of  military  efficiency,  for  it  will  save 
scores  of  thousands  of  soldiers  from  being  shamefully 
incapacitated  before  reaching  the  front,  and  the 
gain  to  the  Nation  from  the  economical  as  well  as 
the  moral  standpoint,  after  the  war,  will  be  very 
great. 

The  work  of  the  committee  will  be  carried  on 
outside  the  camps  in  the  adjacent  communities 
acting  in  cooperation  with  churches,  clubs,  and  or 
ganizations  of  public-spirited  men  and  women.  It 
will  be  wholly  different  from  the  work  inside  the 


28  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

camps,  which  is  done  by  the  Y.M.C.A.,  the  Knights 
of  Columbus,  the  Y.M.H.A.,  and  similar  bodies. 
In  many  places  the  local  authorities  already  have 
done  much  work  along  the  lines  sketched  by  the 
national  committee,  and  wherever  this  is  the  case, 
the  national  committee  will  surely  aid  the  local 
bodies. 

All  good  and  patriotic  men  and  women  should 
heartily  back  this  work  to  keep  Uncle  Sam's  soldiers 
clean,  decent,  and  self-respecting;  to  make  them 
better  citizens  and  more  formidable  fighting  men. 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  CRIPPLE 

OCTOBER  23,  1917 

IF  men  are  alert,  resolute,  and  energetic,  they  can 
usually  secure  some  compensation  from  any  ca 
lamity.  This  dreadful  war,  attended  by  the  killing 
and  crippling  of  men  on  a  scale  hitherto  unknown, 
has  brought  as  a  compensation  a  determined  move 
to  do  away  with  the  cripple;  that  is,  to  cease  the 
mere  effort  to  keep  a  crippled  man  alive  and,  instead, 
to  endeavor  by  reconstructive  surgery  to  restore  him 
to  himself  and  to  the  community  as  an  economic 
asset. 

Surgeon-General  Gorgas  and  his  associates  have 
worked  out,  and  are  ready  practically  to  test,  an  or 
ganized  system  under  which  any  seemingly  crippled 
man  is  to  be  kept  under  the  guidance  of  the  medical 
branch  of  the  army  until  either  the  usefulness  of  the 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  CRIPPLE          29 

damaged  part  has  been  restored  or  else  until  he  has 
been  trained  in  other  ways  so  as  to  enable  him 
measurably  to  overcome  the  handicap.  In  almost 
every  case  something  will  be  done  to  make  the 
cripple  less  of  a  burden  to  himself  and  others,  and 
in  most  cases,  the  army  medical  service  confidently 
believes,  the  cripple  will  once  more  become  a  useful 
and  therefore  a  happy  citizen.  In  all  our  special 
hospitals  that  are  now  being  planned,  the  curative 
workshop  is  part  of  the  plant.  The  effort  is  to  be 
not  only  for  the  physical  development  and  physical 
reeducation  of  the  wounded  part,  but  also  for  any 
intellectual  training  necessary  to  produce  new  forms 
of  effective  ability  which  will  offset  any  loss  in 
physical  ability.  The  aim  is  not  merely  to  save  the 
life  of,  and  then  turn  loose,  a  crippled  pensioner 
who  can  be  little  but  a  burden  on  the  community; 
it  is  to  take  care  of  the  wounded  man  until  the  very 
best  of  which  he  is  capable  has  been  developed,  so 
that  when  once  more  in  the  outside  world  he  will 
be  a  real  asset  to  the  Nation.  This  is  a  fine  thing  for 
the  Nation,  and  is  of  incalculable  consequence  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  self-respect  and  happiness  of 
the  man. 

This  represents  the  complete  reversal  of  the  old 
point  of  view,  which  was  that  the  cripple  was  turned 
loose  with  a  pension  for  less  than  what  if  sound  in 
body  he  would  have  earned,  and  a  burden  on 
the  community.  The  purpose  of  Surgeon-General 
Gorgas  and  his  associates  is  that  the  Government 
shall  stand  behind  the  man  and  invest  money  in  him 


30  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

so  as  to  develop  all  his  latent  resources,  fitting  him 
to  make  good  as  a  citizen  and  expecting  him  thus  to 
make  good.  There  will  be,  where  necessary,  a  money 
compensation  for  the  injury,  but  the  great  compen 
sation  will  be  the  return  to  useful  life  of  the  man 
himself. 

The  far-reaching  effect  of  such  a  policy  is  evident. 
The  purpose  is  to  insist  that  every  man,  no  matter 
how  maimed,  shall  be  made  of  further  use  in  the 
world.  If  once  the  army  acts  on  this  theory,  the 
great  industries  will  follow  suit.  The  cripple,  in 
the  sense  of  being  a  helpless  or  useless  cripple,  will 
largely  be  eliminated,  and  out  of  this  war  will  have 
come  another  step  in  the  slow  march  of  mankind 
towards  a  better  and  more  just  life. 


THE  PEACE  OF  COMPLETE  VICTORY 
OCTOBER  23,  1917 

It  is  stated  in  a  press  report  from  Washington  that 
the  Allies  wish  the  United  States  to  stop  sending 
men  abroad  and  use  its  ships  for  food  and  munitions 
instead,  but  that  the  Administration  will  not  agree 
to  the  plan,  and  furthermore  that  the  Administration 
is  determined  that  there  shall  be  no  peace  until  Ger 
many  is  completely  beaten.  If  the  report  is  correct, 
the  Administration  is  absolutely  right  on  both  points. 
As  to  the  first  point,  we  can  well  understand,  in 
view  of  the  steady  U-boat  campaign,  how  greatly 
the  Allies  desire  food  and  munitions,  and  we  regret 


THE  PEACE  OF  COMPLETE  VICTORY     31 

with  bitter  shame  the  folly  of  our  Government  in 
dawdling  and  delaying  for  six  vital  months  after  the 
German  note  of  January  31  last  before  seriously 
beginning  the  work  of  building  big,  swift  cargo  boats. 
But  this  cannot  alter  the  fact  that  for  the  sake  of 
our  honor  and  our  future  world  usefulness  we  must 
ourselves  fight  and  not  merely  hire  others  to  fight 
for  us.  If  we  do  not  follow  this  course,  our  children's 
heads  will  be  bowed  with  humiliation.  With  proper 
energy  we  could  already  have  had  some  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  men  in  the  firing  line,  and  we  should 
send  our  troops  over  as  rapidly  as  possible,  with  the 
purpose  to  put  at  least  two  million  men  against  the 
German  lines  next  year,  an  entirely  possible  pro 
gramme  if  the  Government  will  lend  its  energies 
with  a  single  mind  to  the  task. 

As  regards  the  second  point,  every  decent  citizen 
should  make  the  pacifist  and  the  home  Hun  realize 
that  agitation  for  a  premature  peace,  for  a  peace 
without  victory,  is  seditious.  Shame  on  every  man, 
and  above  all  on  every  public  servant  and  every 
leader  of  public  opinion,  who  endeavors  to  weaken 
the  determination  of  America  to  see  the  war  through 
and  at  all  costs  secure  an  overwhelming  triumph  for 
the  principles  for  which  we  contend.  If  Germany  is 
left  unbeaten,  the  Western  Hemisphere  will  stand  in 
cowering  dread  of  an  assault  by  Germany's  ruthless 
and  barbarous  autocracy.  The  liberties  of  the  free 
peoples  of  the  world  are  at  stake. 

We  must  now  fight  with  all  our  might  on  European 
soil  beside  our  allies  or  else  fear  the  day  when  we 


32  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

will  have  to  fight  without  allies  beside  our  burning 
homes.  While  this  war  lasts,  the  cause  of  our  allies 
is  our  cause,  their  defeat  would  be  our  defeat,  and 
whoever  assails  them  or  defends  Germany  is  a  traitor 
to  the  United  States.  There  must  be  no  negotiated 
peace.  Belgium  is  entitled  to  an  enormous  in 
demnity  and  France  to  annexation  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine.  By  her  marine  murders  and  her  shore 
raids  and  her  utter  treachery  and  abominable 
cruelty,  Germany  has  made  herself  the  outlaw 
among  nations,  and  with  her  we  should  negotiate 
only  through  the  mouths  of  our  cannon.  All  who 
now  advocate  a  negotiated  peace  with  her  are  seek 
ing  to  betray  civilization  in  the  interest  of  brute  force 
and  international  outrage.  The  United  States  owes 
her  entrance  into  this  war  almost  as  much  to  the 
American  pacifist  as  to  the  German  militarist,  and 
now  the  former  is  meanly  eager  once  more  to  serve 
the  latter  by  securing  an  unjust  peace.  Let  every 
brave  and  patriotic  American  spurn  the  base  coun 
sels  of  the  pro-Germans  and  pacifists,  and  insist  that 
this  country,  at  whatever  cost,  fight  steadfastly  until 
the  war  closes  with  Germany's  complete  overthrow. 

FIGHTING  WORK  FOR  THE  MAN   OF 

FIGHTING  AGE 

OCTOBER  25,  1917 

THE  Y.M.C.A.  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  agencies 
for  good  in  our  military  camps  here  at  home  and  with 
our  armies  abroad.  It  would  be  a  veritable  calamity 


THE  MAN  OF  FIGHTING  AGE  33 

not  to  have  it  do  this  work.  The  women  and  the 
elderly  men  who  have  gone  abroad  under  present 
conditions  are  rendering  a  patriotic  service  of  high 
value,  but  every  young  man  of  fighting  age  who  has 
gone  abroad  for  the  Y.M.C.A.  at  this  time  is  a  posi 
tive  damage  to  the  work  and  should  be  instantly 
sent  home.  It  is  an  ignoble  thing  for  an  able-bodied 
man  to  be  in  such  a  position  of  bodily  safety  where 
his  example  must  naturally  excite  contempt  and  re 
sentment  among  the  men  who,  unlike  him,  are  risk 
ing  their  lives  and  have  left  their  families  for  the  sake 
of  a  great  ideal.  Of  course,  no  man  of  draft  age 
should  be  sent  over,  but  this  is  not  enough.  The 
draft  represents  merely  the  minimum  performance 
of  duty.  No  man  of  age  to  permit  his  entering  the 
army  abroad  or  at  home  should  be  sent  over.  If  any 
such  man  is  not  in  the  army,  it  should  be  either  be 
cause  he  has  been  turned  down  by  the  army  authori 
ties  for  physical  reasons  or  because  his  work  at  home 
either  for  his  family  or  for  the  Government  impera 
tively  demands  his  presence  here.  If  he  is  able  to  go 
abroad  at  all,  he  should  go  abroad  in  the  army.  The 
fact  that  he  is  abroad  for  the  Y.M.C.A.  is  proof 
positive  that  he  has  no  business  to  be  there. 

An  officer  in  high  command  in  France  recently 
wrote  home  a  letter,  which  I  have  seen,  describing 
the  experiences  of  the  junior  officers  of  his  command 
with  some  of  the  young  able-bodied  Y.M.C.A.  repre 
sentatives.  He  began  by  an  emphatic  testimony  to 
the  admirable  work  the  Y.M.C.A.  had  done  and  to 
its  great  importance,  and  by  an  emphatic  statement 


34  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

that  it  had  a  thoroughly  bad  effect  on  the  enlisted 
men  to  see  a  young  man  of  their  own  age  engaged  in 
such  work.  He  then  illustrated  its  effect  on  the 
young  officers  with  whom  these  Y.M.C.A.  men 
messed,  writing: 

Two  young  Y.M.C.A.  men  have  been  at  two  of  the  bat 
talion  messes.  They  are  of  the  age  whose  presence  here  is  an 
annoyance  to  the  army  because  they  seem  to  have  been  ex 
empted  from  the  draft.  They  have  obtained  bullet-proof  jobs 
and  their  presence  here  is  a  bad  example  to  all  the  young  men 
in  the  army.  Last  night  at  one  mess  the  officers  were  so  dis 
gusted  with  the  Y.M.C.A.,  who  was  actually  wearing  a  uni 
form  with  an  officer's  belt  on,  that  they  began  to  chaff  him, 
telling  him  that  they  were  married  men  and  were  entitled  to 
play  safety  first  themselves  and  thought  they  would  apply  for 
jobs  in  the  Salvation  Army.  The  Y.M.CA.  had  to  stand  for 
this  because  he  was  the  only  unmarried  man  there,  and  it  is 
said  that  his  mother  persuaded  him  that  he  owed  her  a  duty 
not  to  go  in  a  dangerous  place.  He  evidently  feels  his  duty 
keenly.  The  other  young  fellow  from  the  Y.M.C.A.  was  a 
real  man  and  he  left  the  soft  job  and  has  enlisted  as  a  private. 

The  Y.M.C.A.  is  so  very  useful  an  organization 
that  it  is  profoundly  to  be  regretted  that  it  should  in 
any  way  damage  its  usefulness.  Its  work  with  the 
armies  abroad  should  be  done  exclusively  by  women 
and  elderly  men.  No  able-bodied  man  under  forty- 
five  should  represent  the  Y.M.C.A.  in  the  war  zone 
or  with  the  army  camps. 

WISE  WOMEN  AND  FOOLISH  WOMEN 
OCTOBER  27,  1917 

THERE  are  wise  and  foolish  women  just  as  there  are 
wise  and  foolish  men,  and  in  any  great  crisis  the  wel- 


WISE  WOMEN  AND  FOOLISH  WOMEN    35 

fare  of  this  country  depends  upon  the  extent  to 
which  the  wise  and  patriotic  men  and  the  wise  and 
patriotic  women  can  offset  or  overcome  the  folly  of 
the  foolish. 

The  woman  who  bravely  and  cheerfully  sends  her 
men  to  battle  when  the  country  calls  takes  her  place 
high  on  the  national  honor  roll.  She  stands  beside 
the  mothers  and  wives  of  the  men  of  '76  and  of  the 
men  who  wore  the  blue  and  the  gray  in  the  Civil 
War.  Where  would  this  country  now  be  if  Wash 
ington's  mother  had  not  raised  her  boy  to  be  a 
soldier  for  the  right? 

But  the  women  who  do  not  raise  their  boys  to  he 
soldiers  when  the  country  needs  them  are  unfit  to 
live  in  this  republic.  The  women  who  at  this  time 
try  to  dissuade  their  husbands  or  sons  who  are  of 
military  age  from  entering  the  army  or  navy  are 
thoroughly  unworthy  citizens.  The  kind  of  affection 
which  shows  itself  by  refusing  to  allow  the  boy  to 
face  hard  work  when  it  is  his  duty  to  do  so,  the 
mother  who  brings  up  her  boy  to  be  a  worthless 
idler,  because  she  is  too  fond  of  him  to  see  him  suffer 
the  discomfort  of  hard  work,  and  the  mother  who 
desires  her  boy  to  play  the  coward  or  the  shirk,  in 
time  of  war,  are  not  merely  foolish;  they  are  poor 
citizens.  They  are  the  real  enemies  of  their  sons,  for 
there  can  be  no  more  dangerous  enemy  than  the 
human  being,  man  or  woman,  who  teaches  another 
human  being  to  lose  his  soul  in  order  to  save  his 
body.  The  wise  mother  is  the  best  of  all  good  citi 
zens  and  the  foolish  mother  stands  almost  at  the 


36  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

other  end  of  the  scale.  I  wish  every  mother  in  the 
land  could  read  Theodosia  Garrison's  poem,  recently 
sent  out  by  that  stirring  body  of  patriots,  the  Vigi 
lantes.  It  describes  the  youth  of  twenty  years,  eager 
to  play  a  manly  part  while  his  mother  seeks  to  hold 
him  from  the  post  of  danger  and  duty,  and  two  of 
the  verses  run: 

Mother  of  his  twenty  years,  who  holds  against  his  will 
The  eager  heart,  the  quick  blood,  and  bids  them  to  be  still, 
What  of  the  young  untrammeled  soul  you  seek  to  blunt  and 
kill? 

You  would  save  the  body  stainless  and  complete, 

Fetters  on  the  hands  of  it,  shackles  on  the  feet; 

And  in  the  crippling  of  them  make  soul  and  body  meet. 


WHY  CRY  OVER  SPILT  MILK? 

OCTOBER  28,  1917 

NICE,  short-sighted  persons,  when  the  evil  effects  of 
our  folly  in  failing  to  prepare  are  pointed  out,  some 
times  ask,  "  Why  cry  over  spilt  milk?  "  The  answer 
is  that  we  wish  to  be  sure  that  we  do  not  spill  it 
again,  and,  unfortunately,  the  nice  persons  who  bleat 
against  any  one  who  points  out  our  shortcomings  in 
preparedness  or  who  excuse  and  champion  those 
responsible  for  this  unpreparedness,  are  doing  all 
they  can  to  invite  future  disaster  for  the  Nation. 

The  bleat  assumes  different  expressions  in  differ 
ent  localities.  Recently  the  Mayor  of  Abilene, 
Texas,  expressed  his  disapproval  of  my  pointing  out 
that  we,  as  a  Nation,  had  wholly  failed  to  prepare, 


WHY  CRY  OVER  SPILT  MILK?  37 

by  saying  that  I  was  "  a  seditious  conspirator  who 
ought  to  be  shot  dead/'  and  that  the  editor  of  the 
newspaper  publishing  the  article  "  should  be  tarred 
and  feathered."  Although  differing  in  method  of  ex 
pression,  this  slightly  homicidal  bleat  of  the  gentle- 
souled  (and  doubtless  entirely  harmless)  Mayor  of 
Abilene,  Texas,  is  exactly  similar  in  thought  to  the 
utterances  of  all  these  sheeplike  creatures  who  raise 
quavering  or  incoherent  protests  against  every 
honest  and  patriotic  man  who  points  out  the  damage 
done  by  our  failure  to  prepare. 

These  persons  cannot  deny  one  fact  I  state.  Nine 
months  have  passed  since,  on  January  31,  Germany 
sent  us  a  note  which  was  practically  a  declaration  of 
war.  We  have  only  just  put  troops  in  the  trenches; 
many  of  the  troops  of  our  draft  army  training  at 
home  have  until  recently  only  had  broomsticks,  and 
now  only  have  one  old  Spanish  War  rifle  for  every 
eight  soldiers;  most  of  the  artillery  regiments  in 
these  camps  either  have  no  guns  or  wooden  guns. 
After  nine  months  we  are  still  wholly  unable  to  de 
fend  ourselves  or  to  render  efficient  military  aid  to 
our  allies,  and  we  owe  safety  from  invasion  only  to 
the  protection  of  the  fleets  and  armies  of  the  war 
worn  and  weary  nations  to  whose  help  we  nominally 
came.  No  man  can  truthfully  deny  these  statements, 
no  man  can  seriously  regard  this  situation  as  satis 
factory.  To  try  to  cover  up  the  truth  by  bluster  and 
brag  and  downright  falsehoods  may  possibly  deceive 
ourselves,  but  will  deceive  no  one  else,  whether 
friend  or  foe.  Is  such  foolish  deceit  worth  while  ? 


38  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Nine  tenths  of  wisdom  is  being  wise  in  time.  We 
were  not  wise  in  time.  Let  us  learn  from  our  past 
folly  future  wisdom.  Our  first  duty  is  to  win  this 
war,  and  therefore  the  Shadow  Hun  within  our  gates 
is  our  worst  internal  foe.  Our  next  and  equally  im 
portant  duty  is  to  prepare  against  disaster  in  the 
future,  and  therefore  our  next  worst  internal  foe  is 
the  sheeplike  creature  who  invites  national  disaster 
for  the  future  by  bleating  against  the  telling  of  the 
truth  in  the  present. 


SAVE  THE  FOODSTUFF 

OCTOBER  30,  1917 

MR.  HOOVER  has  been  appointed  as  the  man  to  lead 
us  of  this  Nation  in  the  vitally  important  matter  of 
producing  and  saving  as  much  food  as  we  possibly 
can  in  order  that  we  can  send  abroad  the  largest 
possible  amount  for  the  use  of  our  suffering  allies 
and  for  the  use  of  our  own  gallant  soldiers.  Mr. 
Hoover's  preeminent  services  in  Belgium  pointed 
him  out  as  of  all  the  men  in  this  country  the  man 
most  fit  for  the  very  position  to  which  he  has  been 
appointed.  Let  us  give  him  our  most  hearty  and 
loyal  support. 

In  this  great  and  terrible  war  the  slaughter,  star 
vation,  and  exhaustion  are  on  a  scale  never  before 
known.  They  are  nation-wide.  Therefore  every  in 
dividual  of  every  nation  engaged  must  do  his  full 
part  or  else  must  be  held  to  have  failed  in  his  duty. 


SAVE  THE  FOODSTUFF  39 

The  man  of  fighting  age  must  fight.  The  man  with 
especial  business  capacity  or  mechanical  skill  must 
produce  arms  or  equipment  or  ammunition.  And 
every  man,  woman,  or  child  must  help  produce  food 
if  possible,  and  in  any  event  must  help  economize  it. 

Mr.  Hoover  has  asked  us  during  this  week  to  de 
vote  ourselves  to  getting  all  our  people  voluntarily 
to  pledge  themselves  to  certain  forms  of  food  econ 
omy, —  which  are  of  great  consequence  from  the 
standpoint  of  sending  abroad  the  foodstuffs  needed 
by  our  Allies  and  by  our  own  troops.  There  are  cer 
tain  foods  which  are  easily  transported  which  are 
nourishing  and  which  are  peculiarly  suited  for  the 
use  both  of  our  allies  and  of  our  troops  in  the  field. 
Mr.  Hoover's  plan  is  that  we  shall  all  of  us  volun 
tarily  limit  along  strict  lines  our  consumption  of 
these  food  products  and  replace  them  by  other  foods 
which  are  not  suitable  for  sending  abroad,  and  that 
we  shall  rigidly  avoid  waste.  Full  particulars  are 
given  in  the  pamphlets  sent  out  by  Mr.  Hoover 
from  his  Washington  Bureau  of  Food  Conservation. 

What  Mr.  Hoover  asks  entails  not  the  slightest 
real  hardship  on  any  of  us.  It  merely  requires  each 
of  us  to  exercise  a  little  self-control  and  perhaps  to 
make  some  trivial  sacrifice  of  personal  preference 
in  what  we  eat.  Surely  this  is  a  very,  very  small 
service  to  be  rendered  by  us  stay-at-homes  in  sup 
port  of  our  sons  and  brothers  who  have  gone  or  are 
going  to  risk  their  lives  in  battle  for  us  and  mankind. 


40  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

ON  THE  FIRING  LINE 
OCTOBER  31,  1917 

OUR  men  are  now  actually  on  the  firing  line,  and 
while,  of  course,  they  are  as  yet  there  primarily  for 
purposes  of  instruction,  nevertheless,  they  are  there. 
They  are  at  times  under  fire.  They  are  at  any  mo 
ment  liable  to  death  in  upholding  the  honor  of  their 
country,  of  your  country,  my  reader,  and  of  mine. 

General  Pershing's  original  division  under  his 
direction  and  the  direction  of  his  lieutenants,  such 
as  Major- General  Sibert,  Brigadier-General  Duncan, 
and  their  associates,  has  evidently  been  trained  to  a 
high  point  of  efficiency.  The  accounts  show  that  the 
infantry  effected  their  entrance  to  the  trenches  with 
the  precision  of  veterans.  Evidently  the  artillery 
is  being  handled  with  similar  efficiency.  Apparently, 
from  the  account,  our  artillerymen  are  using  French 
guns. 

All  Americans  must  feel  a  glow  of  pride  as  he  reads 
of  the  soldierly  manner  in  which  our  American 
troops  have  made  their  entry  into  the  fire  zone. 
But  we  must  not  confine  ourselves  merely  to  feeling 
pride  in  our  fellow  countrymen  who  are  at  the  front 
risking  their  lives  in  doing  their  duty  on  behalf  of 
all  of  us.  We  must  back  them  up.  We  must  support 
the  Government  in  every  movement  taken  effi 
ciently  to  put  the  strength  of  this  Nation  behind  our 
soldiers,  and  we  must  vigilantly  insist  upon  the  effi 
ciency  including  the  speed  absolutely  indispensable. 


ON  THE  FIRING  LINE  41 

We  must  support  the  Liberty  Loans,  conserve  food, 
cheerfully  pay  taxes,  and  tolerate  neither  improper 
profit-making  out  of  the  war  by  capitalists  or 
strikers, —  nor  slackness  and  malingering  which  in 
terferes  with  our  military  efficiency  by  laboring  men. 
Every  American  civilian  should  now  do  his  work 
with  the  same  sense  of  duty  as  is  shown  by  the 
soldiers  in  the  field. 

And  now  let  good  patriots  keep  in  mind  that  the 
Huns  within  our  gates  from  this  time  on  are  the 
allies  of  the  Huns  who  are  actually  doing  battle 
against  our  soldiers  at  the  front.  The  men  who 
directly  or  indirectly  advise  people  not  to  take  Lib 
erty  bonds,  the  men  who  clamor  for  an  early  peace, 
an  inconclusive  or  negotiated  peace,  the  men  who 
condone  the  offenses  of  Germany  directly  or  in 
directly,  the  men  who  say  we  have  not  ample  cause 
for  war  against  Germany,  the  men  who  attack  our 
allies  or  seek  to  breed  dissension  between  them  and 
us,  are  each  and  every  one  to  a  greater  or  less  degree 
acting  as  friends  of  Germany  and  therefore  as 
enemies  of  the  United  States.  Every  patriotic 
American  should  now  clearly  understand  what  is 
really  implied  in  the  attitude  taken  during  the  last 
nine  months  by  the  Stones  and  La  Follettes,  the 
Hearsts  and  Hillquits.  These  men  are  out  of  place 
in  America.  It  is  sincerely  to  be  regretted  that  they 
cannot  be  put  where  they  belong  —  under  the 
Hohenzollerns. 


42  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

NINE  TENTHS  OF  WISDOM   IS  BEING 

WISE   IN  TIME 

NOVEMBER  i,  1917 

A  FEW  days  ago  I  expressed  in  The  Star  the  regret 
and  uneasiness  felt  by  all  men  with  knowledge  of 
international  matters  at  the  failure  of  this  country  to 
declare  war  on  Austria  and  Turkey.  Various  Ad 
ministration,  and,  of  course,  the  leading  pro-Ger 
man,  newspapers  took  exception  to  this  statement 
and  announced  that  the  procedure  advocated  would 
be  unwise  or  improper.  Since  then  the  great  defeat 
of  the  Italian  army  by  the  Germans  and  Austrians 
has  occurred,  and  among  the  Italians  there  has  been 
much  bitter  criticism  of  our  failure  to  help  them,  al 
though  we  have  now  for  many  months  been  at  war, 
at  least  in  theory,  with  Germany. 

A  leading  Administration  newspaper  of  high 
standing,  the  Brooklyn  Eagle,  accurately  states  the 
case  as  follows: 

Italy's  defeat  is  shocking  and  alarming.  Only  its  unexpect 
edness  excuses  the  failure  of  Italy's  allies,  including  ourselves, 
to  meet  it.  This  Government  cannot  evade  responsibility  if 
Italy  is  lost,  for  we  have  been  up  to  the  present,  quite  as 
indifferent  as  the  rest  of  the  Entente  to  Italy's  fate.  Italy 
suffers  and  is  endangered  by  our  own  negative  attitude.  We 
have  loaned  her  money,  but  we  are  not  at  war  with  Austria, 
and  we  have  failed  to  give  Italy  such  whole-hearted  support 
as  her  critical  position  demands.  No  time  should  be  lost  in 
reversing  this  policy.  Italy  is  fighting  our  battles  as  well  as 
her  own.  She  is  a  valuable  ally;  her  cause  is  just.  No  effort 
should  be  spared  to  save  her.  There  is  no  time  to  compromise 
or  equivocate.  Our  own  soldiers  in  Europe  will  have  to  pay 


WE  ARE  IN  THIS  WAR  TO  THE  FINISH    43 

in  blood  for  every  hour's  delay  in  throwing  all  possible  help 
to  Italy. 

This  is  the  exact  truth.  I  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  it  is  from  a  strong  supporter  of  the  Admin 
istration  and  that  it  takes  the  view  I  have  for  months 
been  taking,  and  which  various  well-meaning  but 
sheeplike  creatures  have  bleated  against  on  the 
ground  that  it  implies  criticism  of  the  Administra 
tion.  I  was  merely  advocating  before  the  event  the 
course,  which,  after  the  event,  all  will  agree  ought 
to  have  been  followed.  It  is  in  this  matter  precisely 
as  it  was  in  regard  to  our  building  ships  to  meet  the 
terrible  U-boat  menace.  We  should,  with  the  utmost 
energy  and  speed,  have  begun  to  build  them  within 
a  week,  within  a  day,  of  the  German  note  of  January 
31.  Instead  of  this  we  dawdled  and  wrangled  for 
six  months  before  seriously  beginning.  In  the  one 
case  as  in  the  other  foolish  creatures  did  immense 
harm  by  protesting  against  pointing  out  our  blunders 
on  the  ground  that  we  must  not  speak  of  spilt  milk, 
whereas,  of  course,  we  can  only  stop  future  spilling 
by  showing  where  it  has  been  spilt  in  the  past. 

Nine  tenths  of  wisdom  is  being  wise  in  time,  is  the 
lesson  as  taught  afresh  by  the  Italian  disaster  and  the 
shortage  of  cargo  ships.  Let  us  at  last  profit  by  it. 

WE  ARE   IN  THIS  WAR  TO  THE  FINISH 

NOVEMBER  2,  1917 

THE  disaster  to  our  Italian  ally  should  make  every 
American  worth  calling  such  awake  to  the  real  needs 


44  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

of  the  hour  and  should  arouse  in  him  the  inflexible 
purpose  to  see  that  this  war  is  fought  through  to  a 
victorious  conclusion,  no  matter  how  long  it  takes, 
no  matter  what  the  expense  and  loss  may  be. 

Our  first  troops  are  now  actually  in  the  trenches; 
American  infantry  and  American  artillerymen  are 
under  fire;  blood  has  been  shed.  Our  sons  and 
brothers  have  begun  the  trench  life  of  wearing 
fatigue,  of  cold,  of  inconceivable  hardship  and  ex 
posure  and  of  cruel  danger.  A  few  women  at  home 
suffer  as  much.  Otherwise,  no  civilians  outside  the 
regions  conquered  by  the  Germans  can  begin  to  real 
ize  the  terrible  strain  to  which  constantly  increasing 
numbers  of  our  soldiers  will  be  exposed  as  additional 
divisions  are  trained  for  and  put  into  the  actual 
fighting. 

We  who  stay  at  home  must  back  up  those  men  in 
every  way.  We  must  stand  by  and  energetically 
support  every  effort  of  the  Government  to  add  to 
their  efficiency  and  to  back  them  up,  including  the 
sending  over  of  constantly  increasing  numbers  of 
soldiers  to  the  aid  of  the  men  already  there.  We 
must  back  up  the  loans  and  taxes  necessary  in  order 
to  supply  them  with  arms,  munitions,  equipment, 
food,  hospitals.  We  must  hold  to  the  strictest  ac 
countability  before  the  bar  of  public  opinion  any 
Government  official  responsible  for  needless  delay, 
or  for  shortage  in  shipping,  clothing,  or  material,  or 
for  deficient  ammunition,  or  faulty  gas-masks,  or  for 
any  other  shortage  which  exposes  our  men  at  the 
front  to  needless  danger  and  hardship.  We  must 


SINISTER  ALLIES  45 

make  their  effort  and  their  suffering  avail  by  highly 
resolving  that  the  whole  power  of  this  Nation,  and 
all  its  resources  in  men  and  in  wealth,  shall  be  used 
to  bring  the  peace  of  complete  and  overwhelming 
triumph  over  Germany  and  over  Germany's  subject 
allies,  Austria  and  Turkey. 

Finally,  every  brave  and  patriotic  American  owes 
it  to  the  men  at  the  front  to  make  the  lash  of  scorn 
felt  by  the  Hearsts  and  La  Follettes  and  by  all  others 
like  them.  These  men  have  given  or  now  give  aid 
and  comfort  to  Germany,  and  therefore  show  them 
selves  enemies  to  the  soldiers  in  the  American  uni 
form  by  opposing  the  war,  or  by  asking  for  an  in 
conclusive  peace,  or  by  assailing  the  allies  of  the 
United  States,  or  by  condoning  or  keeping  silent 
concerning  the  hideous  atrocities  which  have  made 
the  Prussianized  empire  of  the  Hohenzollerns  the 
arch  enemy  of  every  liberty-loving  and  self-respect 
ing  civilized  nation  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 


SINISTER  ALLIES 

NOVEMBER  3,  1917 

THERE  are  well-meaning,  but  not  overwise,  persons 
who  bleat  against  any  sincere  and  truthful  effort  to 
make  us  more  efficient  in  this  war  by  protesting 
against  grave  shortcomings.  These  worthy  persons 
should  realize  that  they  are  acting  against  the  in 
terest  of  the  United  States  and  in  the  interest  of 
Germany.  If  they  doubt  this,  they  have  only  to 


46  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

ponder  the  fact  that  in  their  attitude  they  stand 
beside  such  sinister  allies  as  German  papers  like 
the  New  York  Staats  Zeitung  and  Illinois  Staats 
Zeitung  and  the  various  papers  of  Mr.  Hearst. 

These  papers  have  opposed  our  going  to  war,  or 
have  assailed  our  allies,  or  have  condoned  or  passed 
over  in  silence  the  brutal  infamy  of  Germany.  They 
have  opposed  the  Government  in  its  actions  against 
Germany.  In  so  doing  they  have  been  the  enemies  of 
America.  And  they  have  been  no  less  the  enemies  of 
America  when  they  have  eagerly  defended  the  Gov 
ernment  from  criticism  for  shortcomings  which  im 
pair  our  efficiency  and  therefore  tell  in  favor  of 
Germany.  Exactly  as  they  once  opposed  prepared 
ness,  or  excused  the  murderous  sinking  of  the  Lusi- 
tania,  or  protested  against  our  going  to  war,  so  they 
now  zealously  exhibit  a  sham  loyalty  of  the  most 
hurtful  kind  by  denouncing  honest  and  truthful  men 
because  they  tell  the  truth. 

In  order  really  to  serve  this  country,  it  is  nec 
essary  to  point  out  the  dreadful  damage  done  by  our 
failure  to  prepare;  of  the  evil  effect  of  trying  to  train 
our  troops  with  broomsticks  and  wooden  guns;  the 
worse  than  folly  of  failing  to  declare  war  on  Austria 
and  Turkey,  and  the  harm  done  by  the  delays,  in 
cluding  the  dawdling  for  six  months  before  we  began 
the  vitally  necessary  work  of  shipbuilding.  To 
cover  up  such  shortcomings  deceives  no  one  but 
ourselves.  Germany  knows  all  about  them.  We  help 
her  to  find  out  by  our  failure  to  treat  her  spies  with 
drastic  severity.  And  the  men  who  suffer  know  all 


THE  NEW  YORK  MAYORALTY  ELECTION    47 

about  them;  the  artillerymen  with  only  a  wooden 
cannon,  or  the  sentry  in  a  cotton  uniform  on  a  cold 
night  stands  in  no  need  of  enlightenment  on  the 
subject.  When  these  pro-German  papers  with  loud 
professions  of  loyalty  protest  against  telling  our 
people  the  truth  about  such  matters,  they  are  merely 
serving  Germany  against  the  United  States. 

Loyalty  to  the  Nation  demands  that  we  subscribe 
to  the  Liberty  Loans;  that  we  practice  food  con 
servation;  that  we  ardently  support  sending  our 
soldiers  abroad  until  we  have  millions  of  men  on  the 
firing  line;  that  we  stand  for  universal  obligatory 
military  training  and  service;  that  we  heartily  up 
hold  our  allies  and  condemn  as  traitors  to  America 
all  who  attack  them;  that  we  insist  on  prosecuting 
the  war  to  complete  victory  and  condemn  as  false  to 
this  country  all  who  seek  an  inconclusive  peace. 
Loyalty  to  the  Nation  no  less  demands  that  we  make 
our  people  understand  the  lasting  harm  done  by  our 
failure  to  prepare  during  the  two  and  a  half  years 
before  the  war  broke  out  and  the  grave  damage  now 
caused  by  needless  delay,  by  irresolution,  by  the  ap 
pointment  or  retention  of  inefficient  men,  and  by  any 
and  all  types  of  half-heartedness  in  waging  the  war. 

THE  NEW  YORK  MAYORALTY  ELECTION 
NOVEMBER  8,  1917 

THE  triumph  of  Tammany  in  New  York  City  and 
the  large  Socialist  vote  have  in  some  quarters  been 
hailed  as  showing  that  New  York  City  is  for  peace 


48  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

at  any  price  and  that  it  is  against  the  Adminis 
tration.  Neither  statement  is  warranted  by  the 
facts. 

The  Socialist  vote  was  about  one-fifth  of  the  total 
vote.  It  included  most  of  those  who  wished  the  war 
stopped  at  once,  this  number  being  made  up  of  pro 
fessional  pacifists,  of  red  flag  Anarchists,  and  of  poor, 
ignorant  people  who  pathetically  believed  that  a 
Socialist  mayor  would  somehow  bring  peace  at  once. 
But  it  also  included  its  professional  Socialists  and 
poor,  ignorant  people  who  did  not  think  of  the  war, 
but  who  pathetically  believed  that  a  Socialist  mayor 
would  somehow  give  them  five-cent  milk.  The 
voters  in  New  York  City  who  wish  immediate  peace 
without  any  regard  to  national  honor,  or  to  what 
future  horrors  such  a  peace  would  bring,  are  cer 
tainly  less  than  a  fifth  of  the  whole. 

The  vote  was  not  anti-Administration.  A  far 
larger  proportion  of  the  supporters  of  the  Adminis 
tration  voted  for  Mr.  Hylan  than  for  Mr.  Mitchel, 
and  officially  the  Administration  was  neutral  be 
tween  the  two.  A  goodly  number  of  pro-Germans 
supported  Mr.  Hylan,  but  he  was  also  supported  by 
a  large  number  of  entirely  loyal  men,  and  he  him 
self,  unlike  the  Socialist  candidate,  Mr.  Hillquit,  was 
avowedly  for  America  against  Germany,  and  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  The  election  in  actual  fact 
turned  directly  on  local  issues.  New  York  occasion 
ally  witnesses  an  occasional  insurrection  of  virtue, 
but  the  city  has  never  in  fifty  years  given  a  good 
administration  a  second  term.  The  insurrection  of 


GERMAN  HATRED  OF  AMERICA         49 

virtue  at  one  election  is  followed  by  a  Tammany 
revival  at  the  next. 

The  result  of  the  election  in  New  York  City  was 
not  heartening  to  patriotic  persons,  but  right  next 
door,  in  the  Connecticut  congressional  district  which 
includes  Bridgeport,  a  contest  for  a  vacant  con 
gressional  seat  resulted  in  a  way  that  speaks  well  for 
the  Republic.  The  Republican  candidate,  Schuyler 
Merritt,  a  man  of  high  probity  and  capacity,  with 
a  forward  look  in  international  affairs,  came  out  in 
bold  and  straightforward  fashion,  saying  he  would 
support  the  President  in  all  measures  for  the  effi 
cient  prosecution  of  the  war  until  victory  came,  that 
he  would  do  all  he  could  to  prevent  our  again  falling 
into  the  condition  of  shameful  unpreparedness  we 
had  for  three  years  occupied,  and  that  he  was  for 
universal  obligatory  military  training  for  our  young 
men.  He  won  by  a  majority  much  greater  than  that 
which  his  precedessor  received  at  the  time  of  the 
presidential  election  last  year. 


GERMAN  HATRED  OF  AMERICA 

NOVEMBER  13,  1917 

THERE  have  recently  been  published  various  books 
by  Americans  who,  during  the  Great  War,  have 
officially  represented  this  country  in  Germany  and 
in  Belgium,  when  the  Germans  conquered  it.  Am 
bassador  Gerard  is  one  writer.  Mr.  Gibson,  secre 
tary  of  our  legation  at  Brussels,  is  another.  Mr. 


50  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Curtis  Roth,  until  recently  vice-consul  at  Plauen, 
Saxony,  is  a  third.  Their  testimony  is  of  profound 
significance  because  of  their  official  position  and 
personal  standing. 

Two  facts  leap  to  the  eye  from  their  writings. 
The  first  is  that  the  German  people  have  stood 
practically  united  behind  their  Government  in  up 
holding  and  insisting  upon  the  systematic  infliction 
of  hideous  brutality  upon  their  foes.  With  deliberate 
purpose  the  German  Government  has  carried  on  a 
war  of  horror,  a  war  of  obscene  cruelty,  of  wholesale 
slaughter,  of  foul  treachery  and  bestiality,  a  war  in 
which  civilians,  including  women,  children,  nurses, 
doctors,  and  priests,  as  well  as  wounded  soldiers, 
have  been  murdered  wholesale.  The  German  people 
have  enthusiastically  supported  and  approved  their 
acts.  Our  war  is  as  much  with  the  German  people  as 
with  their  Government,  and  we  should  regard  with 
loathing  all  Americans,  whether  men  or  women,  who 
any  way  attempt  to  justify  or  defend  Germany's 
action.  The  Americans  who  so  act  are  traitors  to 
their  country  and  to  humanity  at  large. 

The  second  fact  is  the  extreme  malevolence  of 
hatred  with  which  Germany  regards  America,  a 
hatred  which  blossomed  into  full  growth  before  we 
went  to  war,  and  which  was  immensely  aggravated 
because  of  the  contempt  inspired  by  our  tame  sub 
mission  to  outrage  for  over  two  years.  Mr.  Roth's 
testimony  is  peculiarly  interesting.  He  shows  that 
the  Berlin  Government  actively  stimulated  the  cam- 
paigr  of  hatred  and  revenge  against  America,  that 


GERMAN  HATRED  OF  AMERICA          51 

the  German  people  eagerly  accepted  the  view  that 
Americans  were  cowardly,  avaricious,  and  effemi 
nate,  and  that  in  Germany  it  was  constantly  an 
nounced  that,  sooner  or  later,  there  would  be  a  day  of 
reckoning  when  America  would  have  to  pay  a  huge 
indemnity  or  suffer  the  fate  of  Belgium. 

Mr.  Roth  shows  that  the  German  people  think 
exactly  as  their  leaders  think.  They  now  hate  and 
despise  us  Americans  as  they  hate  others  of  their 
foes.  Says  Mr.  Roth: 

They  are  resolved  to  make  our  country  drink  to  the  dregs 
out  of  the  bitter  cup  of  humiliation.  Nothing  do  they  find 
more  despicable  than  our  talk  about  peace,  which  they  at 
tribute  to  cowardice  and  fiabbiness.  They  look  on  the  Amer 
ican  pacifist  as  a  weakling,  as  a  God-given  tool  in  the  hands 
of  German  interest. . . .  The  Germans,  if  possible,  feel  more 
bitterly  towards  Americans  of  German  extraction  than  to 
wards  Americans  of  other  lines  of  descent. 

Germany  has  definitely  decided  on  America's  ruin. 
She  has  definitely  decided  that  there  must  be 
an  intense  anti-American  spirit  in  both  Govern 
ment  and  people.  She  may  bide  her  time,  and  she 
will  doubtless  try  to  separate  us  from  our  allies, 
but  her  purpose  towards  us  is  both  relentless  and 
ruthless. 

If  we  are  true  to  ourselves,  if  we  prepare  our  armed 
strength  and  keep  it  prepared,  if  we  show  farsighted 
ness  and  valor  of  soul,  we  can  be  sternly  indifferent 
to  this  foul  and  evil  hatred.  But  we  must  keep 
steadily  in  mind  that  Germany  respects  nothing 
whatever  except  courage  and  prepared  strength 
and  that  the  pacifists  and  pro-Germans,  the  Huns 


52  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

within  our  gates,  the  Hearsts  and  the  La  Follettes, 
are  playing  the  game  of  our  German  foes,  and  if 
they  have  their  way  will  bring  shame  and  disaster 
to  our  land. 


START  THE  SYSTEM   OF  UNIVERSAL 
MILITARY  TRAINING  AT  ONCE 

NOVEMBER  17,  1917 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  S.  B.  M.  YOUNG,  U.S.A., 
retired,  gave  long,  faithful,  and  efficient  service  to 
this  country,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  for 
nearly  half  a  century.  But  he  never  has  rendered 
greater  service  than  by  his  steady  insistence  upon 
the  immediate  introduction  by  law  in  this  country 
of  the  system  of  obligatory  universal  military  train 
ing  as  our  permanent  policy.  This  should  be  done 
at  once;  and  all  the  young  men  from  nineteen  to 
twenty-one  should  be  called  out  as  soon  as  there  are 
means  of  training  them.  They  need  not  fight  until 
they  are  twenty-one.  But  they  are  least  needed  as 
economic  assets;  they  are  most  needed  as  military 
assets;  and  it  is  cruelty  to  them  not  to  train  them  in 
advance. 

The  selective  draft  was  far  better  than  nothing. 
But  let  us  never  forget  that  it  represented  doing  im 
perfectly  after  the  event  that  which  ought  to  have 
been  done  thoroughly  long  before  the  event.  We 
have  been  at  war  three  quarters  of  a  year,  and  the 
drafted  men,  admirable  material  though  they  are, 


THE  SYSTEM  OF  UNIVERSAL  TRAINING    53 

are  only  just  beginning  to  be  trained  and  as  yet  are 
not  even  armed  and  properly  clothed.  We  are  trying 
to  train  our  soldiers  to  perform  the  duties  of  soldiers 
after  the  war  has  begun;  and  we  can  attempt  the 
experiment  at  all  only  because  the  English  and 
French  protect  us  from  our  enemies  while  we  make 
it.  Hereafter  let  us  train  the  man  to  perform  the 
tasks  of  a  soldier  before  he  is  called  to  be  a  soldier  in 
war.  Only  thus  can  we  be  just  both  to  him  and  to 
the  country. 

The  present  economic  disturbance  in  the  Nation 
was  inevitable,  in  view  of  our  failure  at  the  outset 
of  the  Great  War  to  introduce  the  system  of  univer 
sal,  obligatory  military  training;  and  this  failure  is 
also  responsible  for  the  fact  that  our  national  army, 
nine  months  after  our  entry  into  the  war,  has  only 
begun  training,  instead  of  being  already  trained. 
Let  us  now  at  least  provide  for  the  future.  The 
amendment  to  the  law  above  outlined,  as  advocated 
by  the  National  Association  for  Universal  Military 
Training,  of  which  General  Young  is  president, 
would  add  nearly  two  million  men  to  our  army, 
would  cause  the  minimum  of  interference  with  our 
economic  life,  and  would  not  necessitate  any  addi 
tional  expense  for  training  quarters. 

The  men  thus  trained  will  be  immensely  benefited 
from  the  standpoint  of  their  success  in  civil  life;  for 
universal  training  would  be  of  immense  economic 
benefit  to  the  Nation.  As  Cardinal  Gibbons  has 
well  said,  "  The  legislation  proposed  will  benefit 
youths  from  nineteen  to  twenty-one  years,  morally 


54  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

as  well  as  physically,  and  help  to  prepare  them  for 
their  work  in  peace  as  well  as  for  the  sterner  needs 
of  war." 

This  is  the  only  democratic  system.  General 
Young  himself  rose  from  being  an  enlisted  man  in 
the  ranks  to  being  the  lieutenant-general  of  the  army 
of  the  United  States.  Under  universal  training  let 
all  candidates  for  West  Point  and  all  other  candi 
dates  for  commissions  be  chosen  with  absolute  fair 
ness  from  among  the  men  who  have  served  a  year  in 
the  field  with  the  colors.  And  in  the  navy  let  all 
candidates  for  Annapolis  be  chosen  from  enlisted 
men  of  the  navy  who  have  served  at  least  a  year  as 
such  and  who  are  still  serving. 


A  FIFTY-FIFTY  WAR  ATTITUDE 

NOVEMBER  20,  1917 

THE  attitude  of  the  United  States  at  this  moment 
toward  Germany's  three  vassal  allies,  Austria, 
Turkey,  and  Bulgaria,  is  a  fifty-fifty  attitude  be 
tween  peace  and  war.  It  is  not  honest  war,  neither 
is  it  honest  neutrality.  It  is  the  attitude  of  the  back 
woodsman,  who,  seeking  a  black  animal  in  his  pasture 
at  dusk  and  not  knowing  whether  it  was  a  bear 
or  a  calf,  fired  so  as  to  hit  it  if  it  was  a  bear  and 
miss  it  if  it  was  a  calf.  Such  marksmanship  is  never 
happy. 

Bulgaria  is  now  simply  the  tool  of  Germany  and 
Turkey.     I   was  formerly  a  stanch  champion   of 


A  FIFTY-FIFTY  WAR  ATTITUDE         55 

Bulgaria,  and  would  be  again  if  she  returned  to  her 
senses.  But  she  now  serves  the  devil,  and  shame  be 
upon  us  if  we  do  not  treat  her  accordingly.  No  one 
can  doubt  that  the  Bulgarian  Legation  is  an  agency 
for  German  spies  in  this  country.  The  Administra 
tion  has  published  reports  showing  that  for  over  a 
year,  previous  to  our  entry  into  the  war,  the  German 
Embassy  was  the  center  of  the  spies  and  dynamiters 
with  whom  Germany  was  already  waging  war 
against  us.  These  papers  show  that  Germany's 
allies  are  her  mere  tools  and  that  Germany  is  with 
held  by  no  scruple  from  the  commission  of  every 
conceivable  treacherous  intrigue  and  brutal  outrage 
against  us.  Under  these  conditions  it  is  a  grave 
offense  against  our  allies  not  to  declare  war  on  all  of 
Germany's  allies. 

Turkey  has  been  and  is  the  tool  of  Germany,  but 
Germany  has  permitted  her  on  her  own  account  to 
perpetrate  massacres  on  the  Armenian  and  Syrian 
Christians  which  renders  it  little  short  of  an  infamy 
now  to  remain  at  peace  with  her.  It  is  hypocritical 
to  express  sympathy  with  the  Armenians  and  ap 
point  messages  to  be  read  in  the  churches  about 
them  and  yet  refuse  to  do  the  only  thing  that  will 
permanently  help  them  which  is  to  declare  war  on 
Turkey. 

With  Austria  our  present  relations  are  less  defin 
able  than  our  relations  with  any  other  power.  No 
one  can  truthfully  say  exactly  whether  our  attitude 
is  one  of  peace  or  war.  We  have  not  declared  war  on 
Austria  and  yet  we  are  furnishing  money,  coal,  and 


56  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

munitions  to  Italy  in  order  to  enable  her  to  fight 
Austria.  If  we  really  are  at  peace  with  Austria,  we 
are  flagrantly  violating  our  duty  as  a  neutral  and 
we  ought  to  be  condemned  in  any  international 
court.  But  if  we  are  really  at  war,  then  we  are 
committing  the  cardinal  crime  of  hitting  soft.  If 
we  had  gone  to  war  with  Austria  when  we  broke 
with  Germany  and  had  acted  with  proper  energy, 
the  disaster  to  Cadorna  would  probably  not  have 
occurred. 

We  are  now  taking  part  in  the  general  council  of 
our  allies.  The  only  way  in  which  to  make  our  part 
in  the  war  thoroughly  effective  and  our  leadership 
felt  to  the  utmost  is  whole-heartedly  to  throw  our- 
self  into  the  war  on  the  side  of  all  our  allies  and 
against  all  their  and  our  enemies. 


THE  GERMANIZED  SOCIALISTS  AND 
PEACE 

NOVEMBER  26,  1917 

THE  American  Socialist  party  at  the  present  time 
is  a  thoroughly  Germanized  annex  of  the  Prussian 
ized  militaristic  and  capitalistic  autocracy  of  the 
Hohenzollerns.  Honest  social  reformers  have  left  it. 
No  patriotic  American  ought  longer  to  stay  in  it. 
It  is  purely  an  aid  to  the  capitalist  and  militarist 
Hohenzollern  party  of  Germany.  It  is  a  bitter 
enemy  of  the  United  States  and  a  traitor  to  the 
cause  of  liberty  throughout  the  world.  Its  leaders 


GERMANIZED  SOCIALISTS  ANP  PEACE  57 

are  the  supporters  of  an  alien  autocracy  and  are 
seeking  to  secure  a  peace  which  would  immensely 
benefit  this  Prussian  autocracy.  They  stand  beside 
the  Bolsheviki,  whose  antics  have  made  Russia  at 
this  moment  a  by-word,  both  of  derision  and  hope  to 
every  believer  in  despotism  and  every  opponent  of 
liberty  throughout  the  world. 

Any  man  who  feels  that  there  is  the  slightest 
exaggeration  in  the  above  statements  would  do  well 
to  read  the  articles  in  which  the  New  York  Tribune 
has  recently  set  forth  the  connection  of  Mr.  William 
Bayard  Hale  with  the  pro-German  propaganda  in 
this  country,  with  the  Hearst  papers^and  with  the 
Socialist  campaign  in  New  York  on  behalf  of  Mr. 
Hillquit  and  a  peace  satisfactory  to  Germany. 
These  articles  should  be  published  in  permanent 
form  and  circulated  as  a  tract  among  all  decent 
Americans  who  still  believe  that  the  Germanized 
Socialist  party  in  America  to-day  is  anything  except 
the  foe  of  America,  the  foe  of  democratic  liberty 
throughout  the  world,  and  the  tool  and  ally  of  the 
autocrats,  the  capitalists,  and  the  brutal  and  un 
scrupulous  military  chiefs  of  the  Prussianized  Ger 
many  of  the  Hohenzollerns. 

Exactly  as  the  reactionary  is  in  the  end  the  worst 
foe  of  order;  exactly  as  the  conscienceless  and 
greedy  man  of  wealth  is  in  the  end  the  worst  foe  of 
property  and  of  honest  and  duty-performing  holders 
of  property,  so  the  Anarchist  and  the  wild  Socialist, 
whose  doctrines  when  applied  necessarily  lead  to 
Anarchy  and  the  I.W.W.,  and  the  crack-brained 


58  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

professional  pacifists  inevitably  themselves  are  the 
worst  enemies  of  freedom,  of  true  democracy,  and 
of  righteousness.  It  is  natural  that  in  this  terrible 
and  melancholy  world  crisis  these  men  should  have 
struck  hands  with  the  sordid  tools  of  German  in 
trigue  in  this  country.  The  masters  of  Germany  find 
all  these  men,  whatever  their  nominal  differences, 
united  in  the  evil  bond  of  a  common  subserviency  to 
German  purposes.  The  German  rulers,  who  at  home 
trample  on  the  Socialists  and  dragoon  the  labor 
organizations  and  bully  the  leader  of  democratic 
thought,  cynically  profit  by  aiding  in  other  countries 
the  men  who  in  the  name  of  social  reform  seek  to 
overthrow  orderly  liberty  and  thereby  show  them 
selves  the  sinister  allies  of  tyranny  and  despotism. 


MOBILIZE  OUR  MAN  POWER 
DECEMBER  i,  1917 

IT  has  been  announced  from  Washington  that,  in 
view  of  the  shortage  of  labor  on  the  farms,  there  will 
be  an  effort  in  Congress  to  permit  the  importation 
for  temporary  use  on  the  farms  of  Chinese  coolies. 
I  do  not  believe  the  effort  will  be  successful,  and  if  it 
were  successful  it  would  be  one  of  the  greatest 
calamities  that  could  befall  the  American  people. 

Never  under  any  condition  should  this  Nation 
look  at  an  immigrant  as  primarily  a  labor  unit.  He 
should  always  be  looked  at  primarily  as  a  future 
citizen  and  the  father  of  other  citizens  who  are  to 


MOBILIZE  OUR  MAN  POWER  59 

live  in  this  land  as  fellows  with  our  children  and  our 
children's  children.  Our  immigration  laws,  per 
manent  or  temporary,  should  always  be  constructed 
with  this  fact  in  view.  No  temporary  advantages 
from  the  importation  of  Chinese  coolies  would  offset 
the  far-reaching  ultimate  damage  it  would  cause. 

Neither  ought  we  to  approve  the  plan,  sometimes 
set  forth  by  zealous  and  high-minded  men,  to  get 
the  Government  to  open  up  vast  tracts  of  land  and 
farm  it  with  wage  labor.  This  is  a  proposal  to  sub 
stitute  a  wage-earning  agricultural  proletariat  for  a 
farming  population  which  owns  the  land  it  tills.  It 
is  a  move  in  exactly  the  wrong  direction.  We  ought 
by  law  to  do  everything  possible  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
growth  of  an  absentee  landlord  class  and  of  huge 
estates  worked  by  tenant  farmers.  Methods  identi 
cal  with  or  similar  to  those  advocated  by  me,  in  my 
recent  book,  "  The  Foes  of  Our  Own  Household," 
point  the  way  to  the  proper  permanent  solution  of 
the  question. 

As  a  war  measure,  rather  than  adopt  either  of  the 
proposals  above  enumerated,  let  us  deal  boldly  with 
the  situation  created  by  the  existence  of  such  vast 
numbers  of  men  in  good  physical  condition,  who  are 
not  being  utilized.  The  best  war  asset  and  labor 
asset  in  this  country  is  the  mass  of  young  men  from 
eighteen  to  twenty-one.  This  draft  law  explicitly 
and  unjustifiably  excepts  this  class,  although  in  the 
Civil  War  most  of  the  soldiers  entered  the  army 
when  they  were  under  twenty-one.  Let  us  proclaim 
as  our  policy  that  while  this  war  lasts  no  man  shall 


60  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

be  excused  from  doing  the  full  duty  which  the  Nation 
finds  it  necessary  to  demand  from  him.  Make  all 
the  young  men  from  eighteen  to  twenty-one  im 
mediately  liable  to  service,  permit  no  exceptions  for 
any  men,  no  matter  how  wealthy,  who  are  not  al 
ready  in  the  army.  Use  as  many  of  the  men  thus 
taken  as  are  necessary  to  fill  the  camps  when  the 
present  drafted  men  of  the  national  army  leave 
them.  Use  all  the  others,  and  use  these  men,  too, 
until  the  camps  are  ready  for  them,  as  labor  which 
the  Nation  shall  mobilize  for  farm  work  or  any  other 
work  which  it  is  imperative  to  do,  and  mobilize  all 
the  alien  labor  now  in  the  country  in  similar  fashion. 


THE  LANSDOWNE  LETTER 
DECEMBER  2,  1917 

LORD  LANSDOWNE'S  proposal  is  for  a  peace  of  defeat 
for  the  Allies  and  of  victory  for  Germany.  Such  a 
peace  would  leave  oppressed  peoples  under  the  yoke 
of  Austria,  Turkey,  and  Bulgaria.  Such  a  peace 
would  leave  the  liberty-loving  nations  of  mankind 
at  the  ultimate  mercy  of  the  triumphant  militarism 
and  capitalism  of  the  German  autocracy. 

It  merely  makes  such  a  peace  worse  to  try  to  hide 
the  shame  of  the  defeat  behind  the  empty  pretense 
of  forging  a  league  of  nations,  including  Germany,  to 
secure  future  peace.  Such  a  peace  would  mean  that 
Germany  saw  her  unspeakable  brutality  and  treach 
ery  crowned  by  essential  triumph  and  therefore 


THE  LANSDOWNE  LETTER  61 

would  put  a  premium  upon  her  repeating  the  bru 
tality  and  treachery  at  the  earliest  convenient  mo 
ment.  It  is  mere  hypocrisy  to  promise  to  put  a  stop 
to  wrongdoing  in  the  future  unless  we  are  willing  to 
undergo  the  labor  and  peril  necessary  to  stop  wrong 
doing  in  the  present.  In  our  own  country  nothing 
but  harm  was  done  by  the  worthy  persons  who,  a 
couple  of  years  ago,  formed  a  league  to  enforce  peace 
in  the  future,  while  at  the  same  time  they  nervously 
declared  that  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
enforcing  peace  by  stopping  international  wrong  in 
the  present.  Lord  Lansdowne's  proposal  to  hide  the 
admission  of  present  defeat  behind  the  camouflage 
of  pretended  international  peace  agreements  for  the 
future  is  unworthy  of  his  distinguished  services  and 
reputation. 

Our  people  ought  never  to  forget  that  Germany 
respects  nothing  but  strength  and  the  readiness  and 
ability  to  use  it.  Germany  has  made  a  fetish  of  able 
brutality.  She  regards  with  utter  derision  the  paci 
fists  and  pro-Germans  in  this  country.  She  will  use 
them  as  her  tools  and  pay  them  when  necessary,  but 
if  through  this  aid  she  was  able  to  conquer  this 
country  after  previously  separating  us  from  our 
allies,  she  would  with  utter  indifference  break  these 
tools  and  throw  them  on  the  scrap-heap  with  the 
rest  of  the  American  people. 

There  is  but  one  safe  course  to  follow,  and  that  is 
to  fight  this  war  through  to  victory  at  no  matter 
what  cost.  This  Nation  should  declare  war  on 
Austria,  Turkey,  and  Bulgaria,  this  week.  Let  us 


62  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

definitely  announce  that  our  aims  include  restoring 
and  indemnifying  Belgium,  giving  back  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  to  France,  creating  a  Poland  which  shall 
include  all  the  Poles  and  a  greater  Bohemia  and  a 
great  Jugo-Slav  commonwealth  and  restoring  Ru 
manian  Hungary  to  Rumania,  and  Italian  Austria 
to  Italy,  and  driving  the  Turk  from  Europe  and 
freeing  Armenia  and  Syria  and  Arabia.  After 
victory  let  us  join  in  any  arrangement  to  increase 
the  likelihood  of  future  international  peace,  but  let 
us  treat  this  as  an  addition  to,  and  never  as  a  sub 
stitute  for,  the  preparedness  which  is  the  only  sure 
guarantee  against  either  war  or  measureless  disaster. 
Therefore  let  us  at  once  introduce  as  our  permanent 
national  policy  the  system  of  universal  obligatory 
military  training  of  all  our  young  men. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE 
DECEMBER  5,  1917 

THE  President  has  in  admirable  language  set  forth 
the  firm  resolve  of  the  American  people  that  the  war 
shall  be  fought  through  to  the  end  until  it  is  crowned 
by  the  peace  of  complete  victory.  He  states  un 
equivocally  that  our  task  is  to  win  the  war,  that 
nothing  shall  turn  us  aside  from  it  until  it  is  ac 
complished,  and  that  every  power  and  resource  we 
possess  will  be  used  to  achieve  this  purpose.  He 
states  that  there  shall  be  no  peace  until  the  war  is 
won.  He  says  that  this  peace  must  deliver,  not  only 
Belgium  and  Northern  France,  but  the  peoples  of 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE  63 

Austria-Hungary,  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  of 
Turkey  in  Europe  and  Asia  from  "  the  impudent 
and  alien  dominion  of  the  Prussian  military  and 
commercial  autocracy/'  He  emphatically  states 
that  we  have  no  purpose  to  wrong  the  German 
people  or  subject  them  to  oppression,  but  merely  to 
prevent  others  from  being  oppressed  by  them.  He 
states  that  if  Germany  persists  in  adherence  to  her 
present  rulers  and  their  policies,  it  will  be  impossible, 
even  after  the  war,  to  treat  her  as  other  nations  are 
treated,  but  that,  although  we  intend  to  right  the 
wrongs  inflicted  by  Germany  on  other  nations,  we 
have  no  intention  to  inflict  similar  wrongs  on  Ger 
many  in  return.  He  says  that  the  mind  of  the 
Russian  people  has  been  poisoned  by  the  rulers  of 
Germany,  exactly  as  the  latter  have  poisoned  the 
minds  of  their  own  people. 

To  all  of  this  the  heart  of  the  American  people 
will  answer  a  devout  amen.  The  message  is  a 
solemn  pledge  on  behalf  of  this  Nation  that  we  shall 
use  every  energy  we  possess  to  win  the  war,  and  that 
we  shall  accept  no  peace  not  based  on  the  complete 
overthrow  of  Germany.  The  American  people  must 
now  devote  themselves  with  grim  resolution  and 
whole-hearted  purpose  to  the  effective  translation 
of  this  pledge  into  action,  for,  of  course,  the  sole  value 
of  such  a  promise  lies  in  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
actually  made  good.  The  people  must  back  the 
Government  in  every  step  to  carry  into  effect  this 
pledge  and  must  tolerate  no  failure  in  any  official 
charged  with  the  duty  of  carrying  it  into  effect. 


64  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

I  shall  shortly  discuss  the  proposals  of  the  Presi 
dent  in  reference  to  Austria,  Turkey,  and  Bulgaria. 
But  in  this  editorial  I  wish  merely,  as  one  among  the 
countless  Americans  to  whom  the  honor  and  welfare 
and  high  ideals  of  America  are  dear,  to  say  amen  to 
the  President's  expressed  purpose  to  wage  this  war 
through  to  the  end  with  all  our  strength  and  to 
accept  no  peace  save  that  of  complete  victory. 


FOUR  BITES  OF  A  CHERRY 
DECEMBER  7,  1917 

IN  his  recent  message  to  Congress  President  Wilson 
stated  that  in  order  "  to  push  our  great  war  of 
freedom  and  justice  to  its  righteous  conclusion  we 
must  clear  away  with  a  thorough  hand  all  impedi 
ments  to  success,"  and  added,  "  The  very  embarrass 
ing  obstacle  that  stands  in  our  way  is  that  we  are  at 
war  with  Germany,  but  not  with  her  allies."  He 
recommended  that  we  declare  war  on  Austria,  and 
added,  "  The  same  logic  would  lead  also  to  a  declara 
tion  of  war  against  Turkey  and  Bulgaria."  But 
inferentially  and  for  reasons  not  apparent  he  advised 
against  such  action. 

The  President  is  entirely  right  in  stating  that  our 
failure  hitherto  to  declare  war  on  the  allies  of  Ger 
many  has  been  a  very  embarrassing  obstacle  to  our 
success,  and  he  is  entirely  right  in  advising  a  dec 
laration  of  war  against  Austria.  Incidentally  I 
wish  to  point  out  that  this  is  precisely  what  I  insisted 


FOUR  BITES  OF  A  CHERRY  65 

upon  in  these  columns  two  months  ago,  and  what  I 
had  elsewhere  advocated  six  months  ago,  and  it  is 
worth  while  remembering  that  the  Administration 
papers  then  assailed  me  for  urging  the  course  which, 
although  there  has  not  been  the  slightest  change  in 
the  situation,  the  President  now  urges. 

There  was  no  justification  whatever  for  failure  to 
declare  war  on  Austria  when  we  declared  war  on 
Germany,  and  there  is  now  no  justification  for  failure 
to  declare  war  on  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  when  we 
declare  war  on  Austria.  There  is  no  use  in  making 
four  bites  of  a  cherry.  There  is  no  use  in  going  to  war 
a  little,  but  not  much.  The  President  has  sent  a 
message  pledging  support  to  Rumania,  but  it  is 
worse  than  an  empty  form  to  send  such  a  message 
unless  we  forthwith  declare  war  on  Bulgaria.  The 
President  has  appointed  a  Sunday  for  the  special 
expression  of  sympathy  with  Armenia,  but  such 
expression  of  sympathy  is  utterly  meaningless  unless 
we  go  to  war  with  Turkey.  The  Austro-Hungarian 
and  Turkish  empires  must  be  broken  up  if  we  intend 
to  make  the  world  even  moderately  safe  for  democ 
racy.  There  must  be  a  revived  Poland,  taking  in  all 
the  Poles  of  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Russia;  a  greater 
Bohemia,  taking  in  Moravia  and  the  Slovaks;  a 
great  Jugo-Slav  commonwealth,  including  Serbia, 
Croatia,  Bosnia,  and  Herzegovina,  while  the  Ru 
manians  in  Hungary  should  become  part  of  Rumania 
and  the  Italians  in  Austria  part  of  Italy.  The  Turk 
must  be  driven  from  Europe  and  Christian  and  Arab 
freed.  Only  in  this  manner  can  we  do  justice  to  the 


66  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

subject  peoples  tyrannized  over  by  the  Germans, 
Magyars,  and  Turks.  Only  in  this  way  can  we  re 
move  the  menace  of  German  aggression,  which  has 
become  a  haunting  nightmare  for  all  civilizations, 
especially  in  the  case  of  small,  well-behaved,  liberty- 
loving  peoples. 

By  declaring  war  on  Germany's  allies  we  do  not 
commit  ourselves  to  asking  anything  that  is  not 
just  for  our  own  allies.  But  by  failing  to  declare  war 
on  Germany's  allies  we  are  ourselves  guilty  of  in 
justice  to  our  own  allies. 


THE  RED   CROSS  CHRISTMAS 

MEMBERSHIP  DRIVE 

DECEMBER  12,  1917 

NEXT  week,  the  week  before  Christmas,  the  Red 
Cross  wishes  to  add  ten  million  new  members  to  the 
five  million  members  it  already  possesses.  Last  June 
the  Red  Cross  War  Council  asked  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  raise  one  hundred  millions  of 
dollars  for  Red  Cross  work,  and  Jhe  people  responded 
by  raising  one  hundred  and  nineteen  millions.  The 
purpose  now  is  to  increase  threefold  its  membership. 
This  is  the  people's  war.  All  people  should,  so  far 
as  possible,  share  the  burden  and  the  glory.  The 
whole  fighting  manhood  of  the  Nation,  without  any 
exception  save  in  the  interest  of  the  Nation,  should 
be  trained  to  arms  and  made  ready  for  the  front. 
The  Liberty  Loans  should  be  taken  by  every  one  so 


THE  RED  CROSS  CHRISTMAS  DRIVE     67 

that  the  bondholders  of  the  Nation  may  be  the 
people  of  the  Nation,  and  now  this  Red  Cross  mem 
bership  campaign  is  one  more  Nation-wide  effort  to 
bring  home  to  all  our  people  their  obligations  to 
this  country  and  to  suffering  humanity. 

We  must  realize  that  every  single  individual  in 
this  country  is  derelict  to  his  duty  unless  according 
to  his  capacity  he  does  his  part  in  helping  organize 
for  the  war.  Individual  effort  alone  will  not  avail 
and  Germany's  strength  has  come  from  her  keen 
realization  of  this  fact.  We  must  have  an  organized 
Nation,  both  at  the  front  and  at  home.  There  can 
be  no  organization  without  discipline,  and  the  Red 
Cross  is  one  of  the  great  agencies  through  which  we 
can  make  progress  toward  such  self-discipline. 

The  Red  Cross  does  not  ask  for  the  new  members 
primarily  because  of  the  money  they  bring.  The 
money  will  do  great  good,  for  the  need  is  pressing; 
but  even  more  important  than  the  money  will  be  the 
effect  if  on  Christmas  morning  the  Red  Cross  can  flash 
around  the  world  the  news  that  ten  million  more 
Americans  have  joined  its  ranks  and  thereby  put 
themselves  unqualifiedly  behind  our  army  and  navy. 

The  Red  Cross  has  done  an  extraordinary  work 
abroad  and  is  doing  an  extraordinary  work  at  home. 
Abroad  it  is  in  every  way  supplementing  the  army 
and  navy  medical  corps  in  Europe  and  is  accumulat 
ing  enormous  hospital  supplies  for  the  use  of  our 
soldiers  and  sailors.  It  has  sent  over  a  million  dollars 
in  money  and  stores  to  Italy.  It  is  giving  both 
military  and  civilian  relief  in  France.  It  is  supplying 


68  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

over  thirty-five  hundred  French  military  hospitals 
and  two  thousand  French  civil  hospitals  with  surgi 
cal  dressings,  drugs,  and  supplies.  It  is  helping  to 
care  for  half  a  million  tuberculosis  victims  and  re 
store  a  million  and  a  half  French  refugees  to  normal 
life.  At  home  it  is  helping  to  care  for  the  dependent 
families  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors.  It  has  organized 
fifty-seven  army  and  navy  base  hospitals,  over  a 
dozen  of  which  have  already  been  sent  to  France. 
Its  useful  activities  in  different  lines  are  well-nigh 
innumerable. 

This  is  the  work  the  Red  Cross  has  done  and  is 
doing  for  America  and  the  world.  Now  let  all 
Americans  in  their  turn  stand  by  the  Red  Cross  and 
help  in  its  Christmas  membership  drive. 


BEING  BRAYED   IN  A  MORTAR 

DECEMBER  18,  1917 

PRESIDENT  WILSON  speaks  in  military  matters 
through  his  Secretary  of  War.  The  sole  importance 
of  the  Secretary  of  War's  report  comes  from  its 
being  the  official  declaration  of  the  President.  I 
discuss  it  as  such. 

According  to  the  reports  in  the  New  York  World, 
the  Secretary  of  War  states  that  "  he  does  not  favor 
universal  military  training  as  a  permanent  policy." 
Mr.  Wilson's  secretary,  therefore,  takes  what  is  in 
effect  the  position  of  Mr.  Bryan,  which  was  pictur 
esquely  phrased  as  being  that  a  million  men  can  at 


BEING  BRAYED  IN  A  MORTAR          69 

need  spring  to  arms  overnight.  The  Administra 
tion's  attitude  is  less  picturesquely  expressed,  but  it 
is  precisely  as  futile  and  as  unspeakably  mischievous 
from  a  standpoint  of  permanent  national  interest. 
Moreover,  it  is  taken  at  the  very  time  when  the  dis 
astrous  effect  of  the  Administration's  policy  of  com 
plete  unpreparedness  is  being  shown  by  the  admis 
sions  of  General  Crozier  on  the  first  day  of  the  con 
gressional  investigation.  Mr.  Baker's  report,  Mr. 
Bryan's  theory,  and  the  things  already  shown  by  the 
congressional  investigation  dovetail  into  one  an 
other.  They  stand  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect. 
The  Administration  now  officially  and  complacently 
announces  that  the  policy  which  at  this  very  moment 
has  proved  disastrous  is  to  be  persevered  in  for  the 
future,  therefore  assumes  complete  responsibility  for 
every  blunder  and  delay,  and  for  all  the  misconduct, 
and  announces  that  these  blunders  and  delays  and 
all  this  misconduct  have  taught  us  nothing,  and  that 
we  are  to  amble  onward  in  the  same  futile  path  until 
disaster  overtakes.  Mr.  Wilson's  Administration 
officially  declares  that  we  shall  persist  in  our  own 
folly  until  we  are  brayed  in  the  mortar  of  dreadful 
calamity. 

If  the  Administration  frankly  and  manfully  ac 
knowledged  its  evil  errors  in  the  past  and  cham 
pioned  a  policy  which  would  prevent  the  repetition 
of  these  errors  in  the  future,  I  would  think  only  of 
the  future  and  not  of  the  past,  but  now  it  is  necessary 
to  emphasize  the  past  in  order  to  avoid  disaster  in 
the  future. 


70  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

We  are  in  the  eleventh  month  since  Germany 
went  to  war  with  us.  We  have  not  yet  built  an  aero 
plane  fit  to  match  the  speedy  battle  planes  of  our 
foes.  We  have  not  built  a  heavy  field  gun;  on  the 
contrary,  we  have  had  to  draw  on  burdened  friends 
to  give  us  artillery.  In  the  training  camps  of  the 
national  army  the  artillery  regiments  still  have  about 
ten  wooden  guns  for  every  old  field  piece,  and  they 
have  none  of  the  modern  guns  they  are  to  use  in  the 
war.  There  are  rifles  only  for  every  third  or  fourth 
man.  Until  ten  months  had  elapsed  there  was  no 
target  practice  save  for  a  few  specially  selected 
units.  The  troops  still  have  only  wooden  machine 
guns  and  the  trench  mortars  they  themselves 
improvise. 

Until  ten  months  had  elapsed  they  lacked  even 
the  necessary  warm  clothing.  They  have  endured 
entirely  needless  suffering  and  hardship.  Our  troops 
in  France  have  received  thousands  of  coffins,  but 
an  insufficient  number  of  shoes.  At  this  moment 
not  more  than  one  tenth  of  our  soldiers,  taken  alto 
gether,  are  fit  to  go  to  battle.  Nine  tenths  of  our 
gallant  and  fine-spirited  men  are  still  without  the 
training,  arms,  and  equipment  that  would  permit 
them  to  meet  any  trained  foes.  After  ten  months 
of  war  and  the  expenditure  of  huge  sums  of  money, 
we  are  still  absolutely  unable  to  defend  ourselves  and 
owe  our  own  safety  only  to  the  fleets  and  armies  of 
our  war-worn  allies. 

This  condition  is  due  solely  and  entirely  to  the 
policy  of  unpreparedness  to  which  the  Administra- 


RENDERING  A  GREAT  PUBLIC  SERVICE    71 

tion  adhered  for  two  and  one  half  years  when  even 
the  blind  ought  to  have  read  the  lesson  of  the  great 
war.  The  Administration  now  announces  that  we 
are  not  to  alter  this  policy  and  that  we  are  to  con 
tinue  the  do-nothing  policy  of  refusing  to  help.  If 
the  American  people  follow  the  lead  thus  given  them, 
they  will  be  guilty  of  criminal  folly. 


RENDERING  A  GREAT  PUBLIC  SERVICE 

DECEMBER  20,  1917 

SENATOR  CHAMBERLAIN  has  rendered  a  public  serv 
ice  by  presenting  the  bill  to  provide  universal  ob 
ligatory  military  training  for  all  the  young  men  of 
the  Nation.  Senator  Wadsworth  has  rendered  a 
public  service  by  pushing  the  senatorial  investigation 
of  our  lamentable  military  unpreparedness.  Con 
gressman  Medill  McCormick  has  rendered  a  public 
service  by  showing  that  we  have  heavily  burdened 
our  war-worn  ally,  France,  by  demanding  from  her  the 
guns  which  it  was  inexcusable  in  us  not  previously 
to  have  built. 

These  three  services  all  hang  together.  Senator 
Chamberlain's  proposal  is  to  supplant  selective  con 
scription  after  war  has  begun  by  universal  service, 
which  would  probably  mean  the  avoidance  of  war 
altogether.  It  was  grave  misfortune  that  at  the 
outset  of  this  war  we  did  not  call  for  a  million  vol 
unteers  and  at  the  same  time  put  all  the  young  men 
between  nineteen  and  twenty-two  into  the  training 


72  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

camps.  There  has  been  some  very  gross  favoritism 
in  granting  exemption  and,  moreover,  the  men  be 
tween  twenty-two  and  thirty-one  include  a  high 
percentage  of  married  men  and  of  others  who  ought 
not  to  go  to  war  at  present.  This  unwise,  wasteful, 
and  inefficient  system  should  not  be  patched  up. 
The  Nation  sorely  needs,  both  as  a  war  measure  and 
as  a  permanent  policy,  the  immediate  introduction 
of  universal  military  training  and  service  for  all  our 
young  men  as  proposed  above. 

Senator  Wadsworth  and  Representative  Mc- 
Cormick  are  in  straightforward  fashion  showing 
the  inevitable  results  of  the  policy  of  unpreparedness 
which  we  have  followed  for  three  and  a  half  years, 
and  which  the  Administration,  through  Secretary 
Baker,  now  actually  advocates  as  our  permanent 
policy.  Senator  Wadsworth  has  shown,  beyond  pos 
sibility  of  anything  except  willful  misrepresentation, 
that  he  has  no  partisan  purpose  whatever  and  that 
the  investigation  is  designed  solely  to  rouse  the 
Government  and  the  public  to  greater  efforts  in 
speeding  up  the  war.  The  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs  of  the  Senate  is  showing  no  partisanship. 
They  realize  that  we  cannot  win  the  war  merely  by 
announcing  programmes.  They  realize  that  we  have 
a  long  road  to  travel  and  that  we  have  made  a  slow 
start.  They  wish  to  help  the  Administration,  and 
in  order  to  do  this  it  is  imperative  to  tell  the  truth. 

Some  of  the  fault  for  the  present  situation  is  due 
to  the  shortcomings  of  individuals  during  the  last 
ten  months,  but  the  major  part  is  due  to  our  failure 


A  BETRAYAL  OF  DEMOCRACY  73 

as  a  Nation  to  embark  on  the  policy  of  preparedness 
three  and  a  half  years  ago.  Nine  tenths  of  wisdom 
is  being  wise  in  time.  Now  our  people  must  brace 
themselves  to  face  unpleasant  truths.  There  is  not 
the  slightest  reason  for  discouragement.  If  we 
choose,  we  can,  through  our  governmental  repre 
sentatives,  quickly  remedy  the  defects  and  then 
exert  with  decisive  effect  our  tremendous  latent 
powers.  But  we  need  to  know  the  truth  and  then  to 
act  with  instant  and  resolute  efficiency  and  with 
single-minded  patriotism. 


A  BETRAYAL  OF  DEMOCRACY 

DECEMBER  21,  1917 

PRESIDENT  WILSON  has  announced  that  we  are  in 
this  war  to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy. 
Either  this  declaration  was  worse  than  empty  rhet 
oric  or  we  are  in  honor  bound  to  make  it  good.  In 
deed,  to  prove  false  to  it  now  is  to  be  guilty  of 
peculiarly  offensive  hypocrisy. 

The  only  way  to  make  the  world  safe  for  democ 
racy  is  to  free  the  people  over  whom  Turkey  and 
Austria  tyrannize.  Every  day's  delay  in  declaring  war 
on  Austria,  Turkey,  and  Bulgaria  has  represented 
and  now  represents  a  betrayal  of  democracy  and  of 
our  allies.  It  is  hypocritical  to  send  an  encouraging 
message  to  Rumania  and  not  to  declare  war  on 
Bulgaria.  It  is  hypocritical  to  shed  crocodile  tears 
over  Armenia  and  not  to  declare  war  on  Turkey. 


74  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

When  President  Wilson  says,  "  We  do  not  wish  in 
any  way  to  rearrange  the  Austria-Hungarian  Em 
pire;  it  is  no  affair  of  ours  what  they  do,"  he  is 
engaged  in  the  betrayal  of  democracy,  and  if  his 
present  words  are  to  be  taken  seriously,  then  his 
declaration  about  making  the  world  safe  for  de 
mocracy  was  false  and  empty  rhetoric.  Either  one 
statement  or  the  other  must  be  unsparingly  con 
demned  by  all  honest  men.  In  view  of  the  last 
statement  there  is  small  wonder  that  the  Austrian 
Foreign  Minister  says  that  "  it  is  to  our  interest  to 
nail  down  "  the  statement  in  question,  because  it 
abandons  the  proposal,  or,  as  the  Austrian  minister 
phrases  it,  "  the  catch  phrase,"  to  allow  all  small 
states  to  determine  their  own  destinies.  No  wonder 
that  the  leading  Vienna  paper  contemptuously 
states  that  President  Wilson  wishes  to  act  as  an 
"  European  peace  intermediary,"  being  one  of  the 
leaders  who  "  apparently  consider  a  warlike  noise 
the  best  overture  to  a  peace  conference." 

There  is  also  no  wonder  that  the  Czech  Slovaks 
feel  with  intense  bitterness  about  this  betrayal.  One 
of  their  papers  in  this  country  describes  how  loyally 
they  have  supported  America  and  the  Allies,  and 
describes  the  dreadful  butcheries  and  persecutions 
of  their  men,  women,  and  children  in  Bohemia,  and 
then  asks  whether  it  can  be  true  that  America  now 
really  proposes  to  keep  them  "  under  the  merciless 
tyranny  of  the  Huns." 

This  is  precisely  what  President  Wilson  proposes 
when  he  says  that  it  is  no  affair  of  ours  to  rearrange 


A  BETRAYAL  OF  DEMOCRACY  75 

the  Austrian-Hungarian  Empire,  or,  in  other  words, 
no  affair  of  ours  to  free  the  Czechs,  Slovaks,  Jugo 
slavs,  Italians,  and  Rumanians,  who,  together  with 
the  Poles,  make  up  the  majority  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Empire  and  who  are  ground  down  by 
tyranny  of  the  Germans  and  the  Magyars. 

The  President's  proposal  represents  three  separate 
betrayals. 

It  is  the  betrayal  of  the  Slavs  of  Austria,  to  whose 
cause  our  allies  have  pledged  themselves  and  who 
form  a  democratic  population  oppressed  by  a  mili 
taristic  autocracy. 

It  is  the  betrayal  of  democracy,  because  we  aban 
don  the  majority  who  are  our  friends  into  the  hands 
of  a  minority,  who  despise  and  hate  us. 

It  is  the  betrayal  of  the  free  people  everywhere  to 
Germany,  for  Germany  is  now  a  world  menace, 
chiefly  because  Austria  and  Turkey  are  her  subject 
allies,  and  President  Wilson's  proposal  is  to  leave 
them  undisturbed. 

A  peace  without  a  change  of  frontiers  and  without 
indemnification  for  brutal  wrongdoing,  a  peace 
which  does  not  create  an  independent  and  united 
Poland  and  a  greater  Bohemia  and  Jugo-Slovak 
commonwealth,  as  well  as  a  greater  Italy  and  a 
greater  Rumania,  and  which  does  not  free  and 
indemnify  Belgium,  would  leave  every  perilous 
problem  of  Europe  unsolved.  It  would  be  timid  and 
calamitous  folly  to  refuse  to  touch  the  disputed 
questions  which,  if  left  unanswered,  are  absolutely 
certain  to  invite  a  future  war. 


76  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

BROOMSTICK  PREPAREDNESS  - 
A  STUDY  IN  CAUSE  AND   EFFECT 
DECEMBER  27,  1917 

IT  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  the  congressional 
investigation  into  the  fruits  of  our  military  unpre- 
paredness  will  keep  two  objects  clearly  in  mind. 
First,  the  aim  must  be  to  speed  up  the  work  of 
efficient  war  preparation  by  doing  away  with  all 
the  present  practices  that  are  wrong.  Second,  the 
aim  should  be  to  make  evident  to  all  our  people  that 
our  present  shameful  shortcomings  are  due  to  failure 
to  prepare  in  advance  and  that  never  again  ought  we 
to  allow  our  governmental  leaders  to  put  us  in  such 
a  humiliating  and  unworthy  position. 

It  will  be  quite  impossible  to  get  at  all  the  facts  of 
our  unpreparedness.  Most  officers  will  be  very  re 
luctant  to  testify  to  the  whole  truth.  They  know 
that  they  will  suffer  if  they  do  so,  because  they  have 
seen  the  punishment  inflicted  by  the  Administration 
on  Major-General  Wood  for  the  sole  reason  that  he 
dared  to  tell  the  truth  about  our  shortcomings,  and 
dared  to  advocate  preparedness  in  advance.  For 
this  reason  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  quote  the  generals, 
colonels,  captains,  and  lieutenants  of  the  artillery, 
infantry,  medical  corps,  and  quartermaster  corps 
who  have  told  me  of  their  troubles  with  unheated 
hospitals,  insufficient  drugs,  summer  underclothes  in 
winter  weather,  lack  of  overcoats,  of  shoes,  of  rifles, 
of  ammunition,  of  cannon.  But  in  the  camps  I 


BROOMSTICK  PREPAREDNESS  77 

visited  I  saw  some  things  so  evident  that  no  harm 
can  come  to  any  officer  from  my  speaking  of  them. 

Last  fall  I  saw  thousands  of  men  drilling  with 
broomsticks.  I  have  such  a  broomstick  now  before 
me.  Last  fall  I  saw  thousands  of  men  drilling  with 
rudely  whittled  wooden  guns.  I  have  one  such  before 
me  now.  I  saw  them  drilling  with  wooden  machine 
guns  as  late  as  the  beginning  of  December.  I  saw 
barrels  mounted  on  sticks,  on  which  zealous  captains 
were  endeavoring  to  teach  their  men  how  to  ride  a 
horse.  I  saw  in  the  national  army  camps  in  Illinois 
and  Ohio  scores  of  wooden  cannon.  Doubtless  any 
man  can  see  them  now  if  he  goes  there. 

The  excellent  officers  in  the  camps  are  as  rapidly 
as  possible  remedying  these  deficiencies.  I  hope  and 
believe  that  by  spring  they  will  all  be  remedied.  But 
let  our  people  not  forget  that  for  one  year  after 
Germany  went  to  war  with  us  we  were  wholly  unable 
to  defend  ourselves  and  owed  our  safety  only  to  the 
English  and  French  ships  and  armies. 

The  cause  was  our  refusal  to  prepare  in  advance. 
President  Wilson's  message  of  December,  1914,  in 
which  he  ridiculed  those  who  advocated  prepared 
ness,  was  part  of  the  cause.  His  presidential  cam 
paign  on  the  "  He  kept  us  out  of  war  "  issue  was  part 
of  the  cause.  We  paid  the  price  later  with  broom 
stick  rifles,  logwood  cannon,  soldiers  without  shoes, 
and  epidemics  of  pneumonia  in  the  camps.  We  are 
paying  the  price  now.  We  pay  the  price  in  the 
doubled  cost  of  necessary  war  supplies.  We  pay  the 
price  in  shortage  of  coal  and  congested  transporta- 


78  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

tion.  The  refusal  to  prepare  and  the  price  we  now 
pay  because  of  the  refusal  stand  in  the  relation  of 
cause  and  effect. 

I  do  not  dwell  on  these  facts  to  blame  anybody.  I 
dwell  on  them  in  order  to  wake  our  people  to  the 
necessity  of  learning  the  lesson  they  teach.  Our  next 
and  permanent  duty  is  to  introduce  the  policy  of 
universal  obligatory  military  training  for  all  our 
young  men  before  they  are  twenty-one. 


OUR  DUTY  FOR  THE  NEW  YEAR 
JANUARY  i,  1918 

IN  the  papers  there  recently  appeared  a  brief  state 
ment  made  by  an  unnamed  young  American  major 
to  his  troops  in  the  trenches  in  France.  He  said:  - 

We  have  reached  the  top  in  training.  If  you  need  any 
thing,  come  and  tell  me  and  I  will  get  it  for  you  if  I  can.  If 
I  do  not  get  it,  I  do  not  want  to  hear  about  it  again,  for  it 
means  that  I  cannot  get  it.  We  will  have  three  meals  a  day 
if  we  can  get  them.  If  we  have  to  miss  one  meal,  we  will  not 
be  badly  off,  and  if  we  miss  two  or  three,  it  will  not  be  much 
worse.  We  are  expected  to  work  from  midnight  of  one  day 
to  midnight  of  the  next  day.  If  there  is  any  chance  to  sleep 
between,  all  right.  It  will  also  be  all  right  if  there  is  no 
chance.  Let  everybody  pitch  in.  While  mud  and  water  must 
be  fought,  it  may  be  much  worse.  The  hopes  of  the  Nation 
are  fixed  on  each  man. 

The  ideal  of  duty  thus  set  before  our  soldiers,  be 
fore  the  Americans  who  at  this  time  risk  most  and 
suffer  most,  is  substantially  the  ideal  of  duty  toward 
which  all  of  the  rest  of  us  here  in  America  should,  in 


OUR  DUTY  FOR  THE  NEW  YEAR         79 

our  turn,  likewise  strive.  We  must  brace  ourselves 
for  effort  and  for  endurance  through  a  hard  and 
dangerous  year.  High  of  heart  and  with  unfaltering 
soul,  we  must  do  our  part  in  the  grim  work  of  toiling 
and  fighting  to  bring  a  little  nearer  the  day  when 
there  shall  be  orderly  liberty  throughout  the  world 
and  when  justice  and  mercy  and  brotherly  love  shall 
obtain  between  man  and  man  and  among  all  the 
nations  of  mankind.  We  must  show  our  faith  by 
our  works.  We  must  prove  our  truth  by  our  en 
deavor.  We  must  scorn  the  baseness  which  uses 
high-sounding  speech  to  cloak  ignoble  action  and 
which  seems  to  betray  suffering  right  with  the  Judas 
kiss  of  the  treacherous  peace. 

During  the  year  that  is  opening  we  at  home  will 
suffer  discomfort  and  privation  and  wearing  anxiety. 
What  of  it?  What  we  at  home  endure  will  be  as 
nothing  compared  to  that  which  is  faced  by  the  sons 
and  brothers,  by  the  husbands  and  fathers  at  the 
front,  and  what  the  fighting  men  of  to-day  face  and 
bear  will  be  no  harder  than  what  was  faced  and 
borne  by  Washington's  troops  at  Valley  Forge  and 
Trenton  and  by  the  soldiers  of  Grant  and  Lee  when 
they  wrestled  in  the  Wilderness.  We  inherit  as  free 
men  this  fair  and  mighty  land  only  because  our 
fathers  and  forefathers  had  iron  in  their  blood.  We 
can  leave  our  heritage  undiminished  to  those  who 
come  after  us  only  if  we  in  our  turn  show  a  resolute 
and  rugged  manliness  in  the  dark  days  of  trial  that 
have  come  upon  us. 

Let  us  all  individually  and  collectively  do  our 


8o  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

whole  duty  with  brave  hearts.  Let  us  pay  our  taxes, 
subscribe  to  the  government  loans,  work  at  our 
several  tasks  with  all  our  strength,  support  all  the 
agencies  which  take  care  of  our  troops,  and  accept 
the  stinting  in  fuel  or  food  as  part  of  the  price  we 
pay.  Let  our  prime  care  be  the  welfare  and  warlike 
efficiency  of  the  men  at  the  front  and  in  the  training 
camps.  Let  us  hold  to  sharp  account  every  public 
servant  who  in  any  way  comes  short  of  his  duty  in 
this  respect.  But  let  us  also  insist  that  the  soldiers  at 
the  front  and  in  the  camps  treat  every  shortcoming 
merely  as  an  obstacle  to  be  overcome  or  remedied 
or  offset  by  their  own  energy  and  courage  and 
resourcefulness.  The  one  absolute  essential  for  our 
people  is  to  insist  that  this  war  be  seen  through  at 
no  matter  what  cost  until  it  is  crowned  with  the 
peace  of  overwhelming  victory  for  the  right. 


TELL  THE  TRUTH  AND  SPEED  UP 
THE  WAR 

JANUARY  4,  1918 

ANY  m^n  who  at  this  time  leaves  undone  anything 
to  increase  our  fighting  efficiency  is  a  foe  of  America 
and  a  friend  of  Germany.  The  man  who  objects  to 
fearless  exposure  and  criticism  of  the  governmental 
shortcomings  which  must  be  exposed  if  they  are  to 
be  corrected  is  a  foe  to  America  and  a  friend  to 
Germany,  and  in  addition  shows  that  he  possesses  a 
thoroughly  servile  mind.  The  critic  whose  criticism 


TELL  THE  TRUTH  81 

is  not  constructive,  or  who  treats  shortcomings  as 
causes  for  being  disheartened  about  the  war  instead 
of  as  an  incentive  to  strive  for  the  greater  efficiency 
in  waging  the  war  and  in  preparing  for  the  future,  is 
a  foe  to  America  and  a  friend  to  every  present  or 
future  foe  of  America. 

When  the  Administration  stands  against  universal 
military  training  and  talks  with  vague  looseness  of 
future  paper  guarantees  against  war,  it  renders  it 
imperatively  necessary  to  bring  home  to  our  people 
the  tremendous  damage  done  by  our  lamentable 
folly  in  refusing  to  prepare  since  August,  1914.  It  is 
a  betrayal  of  our  country  to  protest  against  telling 
the  truth  for  this  purpose. 

This  is  the  twelfth  month  since  Germany  in  effect 
declared  war  on  us  and  we  broke  relations  with 
Germany.  We  have  developed  our  military  strength 
so  slowly  that  as  yet  we  would  be  wholly  unable  to 
defend  ourselves  if  we  were  not  protected  by  the 
fleets  and  armies  of  our  allies.  No  modern  armies 
can  fight  without  training  in  modern  war  methods 
and  without  modern  field  guns,  auto  rifles  and  air 
planes.  As  yet  we  only  have  either  cannon  borrowed 
from  the  hard-pressed  French  or  else  wooden  cannon. 
We  have  no  auto  rifles.  Our  airplanes  are  still  unfit 
to  fight  modern  war  planes. 

The  Patriotic  Education  Society  of  Washington 
has  done  capital  constructive  work  in  truthfully 
telling  our  needs.  It  has  fearlessly  shown  our  dread 
ful  shortage  in  shipbuilding  and  the  deceitful  word 
ing  of  government  announcements  designed  to  con- 


82  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

ceal  this  shortage.  It  has  shown  the  vital  need  of 
our,  at  this  late  time,  bending  every  energy  to 
building  ships  by  working  three  eight-hour  shifts  a 
day  in  order  to  put  our  soldiers  and  supplies  at  the 
front  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  The  building 
of  transport  ships  was  the  central  feature  of  the 
problem  we  faced  on  January  31  a  year  ago.  It  was 
not  only  a  misfortune,  but  a  crime,  to  neglect  it,  as 
for  nine  months  afterward  it  was  neglected.  The 
newspapers  have  just  printed  the  statement  that 
Colonel  House's  committee  reports  that  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  get  our  troops  quickly  to  the 
front.  Of  course  it  is.  Every  man  of  broad  vision 
has  known  this  for  a  year.  If  there  had  been  more 
fearless  truth-telling  during  the  year  there  would 
have  been  much  less  governmental  delay  and 
inefficiency 

Tell  the  truth  and  speed  up  the  war.  Tell  the 
truth  only  for  constructive  purposes  and  only  with 
the  unalterable  determination  to  exert  every  particle 
of  our  strength  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  so 
as  to  win  peace  by  overwhelming  victory.  f 


THE  COST  OF  UNPREPAREDNESS 
JANUARY  6,  1918 

SENATOR  CHAMBERLAIN,  in  order  to  minimize  the 
chance  of  future  war  and  to  insure  us  against  dis 
aster,  if  in  future  war  should  unhappily  come,  has 
introduced  a  bill  for  universal  military  training  of 


THE  COST  OF  UNPREPAREDNESS        83 

our  young  men  under  the  age  of  twenty-one.  The 
Administration  declares  against  universal  training 
and  therefore  for  a  continuance  of  the  policy  of  un- 
preparedness,  the  fruits  of  which  we  are  enjoying. 
Some  of  these  fruits  are  as  follows: 

According  to  the  statement  of  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  of 
the  House,  Congress  appropriated  during  the  last 
year  $18,880,000,000  and  provided  authorization  for 
which  cash  must  be  supplied  before  next  July  of 
$2,510,000,000,  making  our  year's  war  expenses  a 
grand  total  of  $21,390,000,000.  This  equals  the 
entire  sum  Great  Britain  expended  during  the  first 
three  years  of  the  war.  It  is  over  twenty  times  as 
great  as  for  any  previous  year  in  our  history,  except 
the  year  that  saw  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  and 
it  is  seventeen  times  as  great  as  that.  The  appropri 
ations  for  the  year  are  twenty-two  times  as  great  as 
the  total  interest-bearing  debt  of  the  United  States 
one  year  ago.  They  come  within  four  billion  dollars 
of  the  total  expenditures  of  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment  from  1776  to  1917.  They  equal  the  ex 
penditure  of  twenty  dollars  a  minute  for  every  min 
ute  since  the  birth  of  Christ. 

Had  we  started  to  prepare  in  time,  one  half  of 
this  cost  would  have  been  saved.  The  tremendous 
pressure  coming  suddenly  caused  an  immense  in 
crease  in  expenditures,  even  aside  from  the  futile 
waste,  extravagance,  and  misdirection.  Had  we  gone 
into  the  war  when  the  Lusitania  was  sunk,  we  would 
have  saved  a  third  of  the  sum,  for  we  have  provided 


84  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

to  loan  our  allies  about  seven  billions.  Our  delay  in 
going  to  war  and,  above  all,  delay  in  preparing,  have 
resulted  in  a  huge  increase  in  the  money  chest  and 
in  the  length  of  the  war  and  in  the  terrible  total  of 
avoidable  human  suffering. 

The  lack  of  preparedness  is  responsible  for  the 
sickness  among  our  soldiers.  Take  as  an  example 
the  ravages  of  pneumonia  in  the  training  camps. 
The  men  in  the  training  camps  are  physically  of 
exceptional  type  and  are  in  the  prime  of  life.  Their 
death-rate  ought  not  normally  to  be  more  than  a 
small  fraction  of  that  in  New  York  City,  where  the 
total  population  includes  the  very  young,  the  very 
old,  the  weak  and  sick,  the  badly  nurtured.  The 
population  of  New  York  City  is  4,800,000.  The 
population  of  the  thirty  camps  is  about  six  hundred 
thousand.  In  the  two  weeks  of  last  December  the 
death-rate  in  the  city  from  pneumonia  was  one  to 
every  16,500  people.  In  the  camps  it  was  one  to 
2800.  Therefore,  the  specially  selected  men  of  the 
camps  suffered  from  a  death-rate  six  times  as  great 
as  in  the  heterogeneous  city  population.  And  of 
every  three  men  attacked,  one  died. 

Doubtless  administrative  blundering  during  the 
last  year  is  largely  responsible  for  this  showing. 
But  the  prime  cause  is  the  failure  to  prepare  in 
advance.  Our  first  duty  at  the  moment  is  to  speed 
up  the  war.  Our  second  duty  is  to  secure  real 
preparedness  as.  outlined  in  Senator  Chamberlain's 
bill. 


COOPERATION  AND  CONTROL ^          85 

COOPERATION  AND  CONTROL 
JANUARY  8,  1918 

THE  assumption  of  control  by  the  Government  over 
the  railroads  was  certainly  necessary.  Exactly  how 
far  it  will  go  is  not  evident.  At  present  what 
has  been  done  is  merely  to  introduce  government 
supervision  and  control  over  railroads  which  are  re 
quired  to  combine  their  operations  in  flat  defiance  of 
the  Sherman  Law.  In  other  words,  the  Government 
has  wisely  abandoned  the  effort  to  enforce  competi 
tion  among  the  railroads  and  has  introduced  the 
principle  of  control  over  corporative  organizations. 
The  Attorney-General  has  just  announced  that  he 
will,  for  the  time  being,  abandon  the  suits  under  the 
Sherman  Law  to  break  up  the  harvester  and  steel 
corporations,  because  it  is  not  wise  to  do  so  during 
the  war.  Mr.  Culbertson,  the  able  expert  on  the 
government  tariff  board,  has  announced  that  the 
Sherman  Law  is  mischievous  in  international  trade. 
Mr.  Francis  Heney,  than  whom  in  'all  the  country 
there  is  no  more  determined  and  efficient  enemy  of 
wrongdoing  corporations,  has  stated  that  the  Sher 
man  Law,  the  so-cajled  Anti-Trust  Law,  is  mis 
chievous  in  our  domestic  business  and  should  be 
repealed.  In  other  words,  under  the  strain  of  the 
war  the  Sherman  Law  has  completely  broken  down 
and  the  Government  is  not  merely  conniving  at, 
but  encouraging,  its  violation  by  many  different 
corporations. 


86  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

The  Sherman  Law,  or  so-called  Anti-Trust  Law,  is 
just  as  mischievous. in  peace  as  in  war.  It  represents 
an  effort  to  meet  a  great  evil  in  the  wrong  way.  As 
long  as  corporations  claimed  complete  immunity 
from  government  control,  the  first  necessity  was  to 
establish  the  right  of  the  Government  to  control 
them.  This  right  and  power  of  the  Government  was 
established  by  the  Northern  Securities  suit,  which 
prevented  all  the  railroads  of  the  country  from  being 
united  under  one  corporation  which  defied  govern 
ment  control.  The  suits  against  the  Standard  Oil 
and  Tobacco  trusts  followed.  The  Supreme  Court 
decreed  that  the  trusts  had  been  guilty  of  grave 
misconduct  and  should  be  dissolved,  but  not  a 
particle  of  good  followed  their  dissolution.  It  is 
evident  that  the  Sherman  Law,  or  so-called  Anti- 
Trust  Law,  in  no  way  meets  the  evils  of  the  indus 
trial  world.  To  try  to  break  up  corporations  because 
they  are  big  and  efficient  is  either  ineffective  or 
mischievous.  What  is  needed  is  to  exercise  govern 
ment  control  over  them,  so  as  to  encourage  their 
efficiency  and  prosperity,  but  to  insure  that  the  effi 
ciency  is  used  in  the  public  interest  and  that  the 
prosperity  is  properly  passed  around. 

Merely  to  repeal  the  Sherman  Law  without 
putting  anything  in  its  place  would  do  harm.  It 
should  at  once  be  amended  or  superseded  by  a  law 
which  would  in  some  shape  permit  and  require 
the  issuing  of  licenses  by  the  Federal  Government 
to  corporations  doing  an  interstate  or  international 
business.  Corporations  which  did  not  take  out  such 


THE  ARTEMUS  WARD  THEORY  OF  WAR    87 

licenses  or  comply  with  the  rules  of  the  Govern 
ment's  administrative  board  would  be  subject  to  the 
Sherman  Law.  The  others  would  be  under  govern 
ment  control  and  would  be  encouraged  to  cooperate 
and  in  every  way  to  become  prosperous  and  efficient, 
the  Government  guaranteeing  by  its  supervision 
that  the  corporations*  prosperity  and  efficiency  were 
in  the  public  interest. 


THE  ARTEMUS  WARD  THEORY  OF  WAR 

JANUARY  17,  1918 

THE  great  American  humorist,  Artemus  Ward, 
whose  writings  gave  such  delight  to  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  once  remarked  that  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice 
all  his  wife's  relatives  on  the  altar  of  the  country. 
Mr.  Ward  was  not  in  President  Lincoln's  Cabinet. 
Mr.  Baker  is  in  President  Wilson's  Cabinet.  He 
takes  substantially  the  same  ground  that  Artemus 
Ward  took,  although  possibly  with  a  more  uncon 
scious  humor.  He  has  just  uttered  a  heroic  senti 
ment  expressing  his  pleased  acquiescence  in  the 
sacrifice  of  France  and  England's  armies  for  the 
defense  of  the  common  cause. 

On  Wednesday  of  last  week,  discussing  the  likeli 
hood  that  the  Germans,  relieved  from  anxiety  of 
Russia,  would  make  a  tremendous  assault  on  the 
western  front,  Mr.  Baker  said:  "  The  impending 
German  offensive  will  possibly  be  their  greatest 
assault.  The  French  and  British  armies  can  be  relied 


88  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

upon  to  withstand  the  shock."  Mr.  Baker  is  Presi 
dent  Wilson's  Secretary  of  War.  He  holds  at  this 
time  the  most  important  office  in  our  Government. 
He  thus  announces  to  our  allies  and  the  world  that 
in  the  twelfth  month  after  Germany  went  to  war 
with  us,  America,  the  richest  country  of  the  world 
with  a  population  of  one  hundred  million  people, 
after  being  at  war  nearly  a  year  and  after  such  warn 
ing  as  never  a  nation  had  before,  is  wholly  unable  to 
send  any  effective  assistance  to  repel  the  greatest 
assault  of  the  war,  and  that  the  only  military  meas 
ure  which  can  be  taken  is  to  express  through  Mr. 
Baker  the  belief  that  the  British  and  French  armies 
can  be  relied  upon  to  do  alone  the  duty  which  we 
ought  to  share  with  them. 

This  statement  of  Mr.  Baker  absolves  us  from  all 
necessity  of  commenting  on  his  ingenuous  defense 
of  a  system  of  preparedness  which  leaves  our  small 
army  at  the  front  with  no  artillery  except  what  we 
get  from  the  French  and  our  army  at  home  with 
batteries  made  out  of  telegraph  poles  and  logwood. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  the  exact  amount  of 
pride  we  should  as  a  Nation  take  in  the  fact  that 
as  a  Nation  after  eleven  months  of  war  we  are 
proudly  emerging  from  the  broomstick  rifle  stage 
preparedness  into  the  telegraph  pole  stage  prepared 
ness.  Mr.  Baker's  statement  sums  up  the  situation 
exactly.  We  have  been  at  war  nearly  a  year,  and 
when  the  Germans  make  their  greatest  assault  our 
preparedness  is  only  such  as  to  warrant  our  express 
ing  belief  that  our  allies  can  win  without  our  help. 


THE  FRUITS  OF  WATCHFUL  WAITING    89 

The  New  York  Times,  a  supporter  of  the  Adminis 
tration,  comments  truthfully  on  the  situation: 

Nine  months  after  entering  the  war  not  only  are  we  giving 
our  allies  no  effective  military  aid,  but  all  our  bustle  and  stir 
doesn't  hide  the  fact  that,  through  incompetence  and  lack  of 
organization  and  system,  we  are  far  behind  in  our  prepara 
tions  to  supply  rifles,  ammunition,  machine  guns,  airships, 
uniforms,  clothing  for  the  troops  we  shall  some  time  have  at 
the  front.  Our  backwardness  is  naturally  disquieting  to  our 
allies.  If  one  million  American  soldiers,  or  half  that  number, 
fully  equipped,  had  stood  on  the  soil  of  France,  Lloyd  George 
would  have  made  no  speech  to  British  workingmen  restating 
after  a  fashion  the  war  aims  of  the  Allies.  There  would  have 
been  no  occasion,  nor  demand  for  a  speech  telling  the  labor 
unions  what  the  troops  of  Britain  are  fighting  for. 

The  pacifists  and  the  agencies  of  German  intrigue 
would  not  be  working  for  a  peace  in  the  interests  of 
the  capitalistic  and  militaristic  autonomy  of  Ger 
many.  As  the  Times  well  says,  the  man  who  now 
works  for  such  a  peace  while  Germany  is  uncon- 
quered  "  is  the  most  heartless  of  militarists  or  enemy 
of  the  world's  peace  and  freedom." 


THE  FRUITS  OF  WATCHFUL  WAITING 

JANUARY  18,  1918 

WE  have  been  at  war  nearly  one  year.  We  have 
failed  to  do  any  damage  to  Germany,  but  we  have 
done  a  great  deal  of  damage  to  ourselves.  Recently 
the  President's  Secretary  of  War  announced  that  the 
war  was  three  thousand  miles  away  and  so  he  had 
not  prepared  to  meet  it.  Incidentally  the  feats  of  the 


90  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

German  submarine  off  Newport  in  the  fall  of  1916 
showed  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Allied  fleets 
and  armies  the  war  would  then  have  been  on  our  own 
shores.  But  at  the  moment  it  is  three  thousand 
miles  away,  and  yet  this  Nation  is  suffering  the 
kind  of  grave  economic  derangement  that  we  would 
suffer  if  a  hostile  army  was  on  our  own  shores.  We 
have  accomplished  very  little.  We  have  suffered 
very  much.  Both  the  failure  in  accomplishment  and 
the  amount  of  avoidable  suffering  are  due  to  the 
resolute  refusal  of  our  Government  to  prepare  in 
advance  and  to  its  fatuous  persistence  in  the  policy 
of  watchful  waiting. 

Doubtless  part  of  the  present  trouble  in  connec 
tion  with  coal  is  due  to  unwisdom  in  the  price-fixing 
of  bituminous  coal.  Doubtless  part  of  it  is  due  to  the 
railway  congestion,  which  in  its  turn  is  due  to  the 
complete  lack  of  system  and  consequent  chaos  due 
to  suddenly  imposing  on  well-meaning,  stodgy  gov 
ernment  officials  of  average  capacity  the  duty  of 
dealing  in  a  tremendous  hurry  with  a  situation  of 
unprecedented  size,  complexity,  and  importance, 
but  the  temporary  causes  are  all  secondary  to  the 
great  cause  of  complete  failure  to  prepare  in  advance. 

Our  economic  unpreparedness  is  just  as  complete 
as  our  military  unpreparedness  and  is  one  of  the 
chief  factors  therein.  We  are  now  paying  bitterly  for 
the  fact  that  two  and  three  years  ago  it  was  deemed 
politically  wise  to  shape  our  governmental  policy 
along  the  lines  of  "  Watchful  waiting  "  and  "  He 
kept  us  out  of  war." 


THE  FRUITS  OF  WATCHFUL  WAITING    91 

If  three  years  ago  we  had  begun  in  good  faith  and 
earnestly  to  prepare,  and  if,  when  the  Lusitania  was 
sunk,  we  had  acted  as  precisely  as  we  did  act  with  no 
more  provocation  in  February,  last,  this  war  would 
now  have  been  over.  An  immense  amount  of  blood 
shed  would  have  been  spared  and  the  danger  of 
German  militarism  would  have  been  forever  averted. 
In  such  case  we  would  have  greatly  developed  the 
trained  administrators  and  the  coherent  system 
necessary  to  deal  wisely  with  the  economic  no  less 
than  the  military  features  of  a  great  war.  Our  re 
fusal  to  prepare  in  advance  and  our  fatuous  accept 
ance  of  rhetorical  platitudes  as  a  substitute  for 
preparations  have  resulted  in  our  present  military 
impotence  and  profound  and  far-reaching  economic 
derangement.  The  profound  business  distrust,  the 
unrest  of  labor,  the  coal  famine,  the  congestion  of 
traffic,  and  the  shutting  down  of  industries  at  the 
time  when  it  is  most  important  that  production 
should  be  speeded  to  the  highest  point,  all  are  due 
primarily  to  the  refusal  to  face  facts  during  the  first 
two  years  and  a  half  of  the  World  War  and  the  seeth 
ing  welter  of  inefficiency  and  confusion  in  which  the 
policy  of  watchful  waiting  finally  plunged  us.  Nine 
tenths  of  wisdom  is  being  wise  in  time.  All  far- 
sighted  patriots  most  earnestly  hope  that  this 
Nation  will  learn  the  bitter  lesson  and  that  never 
again  will  we  be  caught  so  shamefully  unprepared, 
spiritually,  economically,  and  from  the  military 
standpoint  as  has  been  the  case  in  the  year  that  is 
now  passing. 


92  .  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

TELL  THE  TRUTH 
JANUARY  21,  1918 

NEARLY  a  year  has  passed  since,  on  February  3,  by 
formally  breaking  relations  with  Germany,  we  re 
luctantly  admitted  that  she  had  gone  to  war  with  us. 
During  that  year  it  has  been  incessantly  insisted  that 
it  was  unpatriotic  under  any  consideration  to  tell 
an  unpleasant  truth  or  to  point  out  a  governmental 
shortcoming.  The  result  has  not  been  happy. 

The  famous  war  correspondent,  Mr.  Caspar 
Whitney,  has  returned  from  the  front  so  that  he 
might  avoid  our  fatuous  and  sinister  censorship, 
and  tell  our  people  the  truth  about  our  army  in 
France.  He  shows  that  this  army,  which,  Secretary 
Baker  had  just  assured  our  people,  was  admirably 
equipped,  in  reality  had  no  cannon  or  machine  guns 
except  those  it  had  borrowed  from  the  hard-pressed 
French;  that  there  was  a  lamentable  shortage  of 
shoes;  that  the  motor  cars  were  poor;  that  we  had 
no  airplanes.  From  another  source  it  appeared  that 
many  thousand  coffins  had  been  sent  over.  Our  troops 
had  no  shoes,  but  they  had  plenty  of  coffins.  Their 
ammunition  was  defective,  and  they  had  neither  can 
non  nor  auto  rifles;  but  they  had  plenty  of  coffins. 

At  the  same  time  the  death  of  gallant  Major 
Gardner  from  pneumonia  called  sharp  attention  to 
the  evil  health  conditions  in  most  of  our  home  train 
ing  camps,  and  the  Senate  investigating  committee 
showed  a  really  appalling  slackness  and  inefficiency  in 


;  CONSTRUCTIVE  CRITICISM  93 

the  management  of  the  War  Department  under  Mr. 
Baker.  There  is  no  particular  reason  to  blame  Mr. 
Baker;  he  did  not  appoint  himself;  he  did  not  seek  the 
office.  Logwood  cannon  and  wooden  auto  rifles  are 
mostly  incidental  features  of  the  inevitable  outcome. 

All  this  was  done  in  the  face  of  repeated  and  ex 
plicit  warnings  from  the  best  authority.  Major- 
General  Leonard  Wood  told  the  military  committee 
of  the  Senate  and  of  the  House  in  detail  about  our 
shortcomings  two  years  ago,  and  again  one  year  ago. 
The  Administration  not  only  refused  to  remedy 
these  shortcomings,  but  has  spitefully  punished 
General  Wood  ever  since. 

Criticism  should  be  both  truthful  and  construc 
tive.  I  have  told  not  the  whole  truth,  but  the  mini 
mum  truth  absolutely  necessary  in  order  that  we 
may,  before  it  is  too  late,  speed  up  the  war,  and  in 
order  that  we  may  insist  on  the  passage  of  the 
Chamberlain  Bill,  so  that  never  again  may  we  be 
caught  utterly  and  shamefully  unprepared.  Let  us 
insist  that  the  truth  be  told.  The  truth  only  harms 
weaklings.  The  American  people  wish  the  truth, 
and  can  stand  the  truth. 


JUSTIFICATION  OF  CONSTRUCTIVE 
CRITICISM 

JANUARY  28,  1918 

SENATOR  CHAMBERLAIN  and  his  excellent  committee 
have  already  seen  the  justification  of  their  investiga- 


94  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

tion.  They  have  forced  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Stettinius,  a  trained  and  capable  expert,  as  head  of 
the  war  supplies  purchasing  department.  The  fact 
that  the  appointment  is  made  in  order  to  obviate 
the  need  of  following  Senator  Chamberlain's  more 
thoroughgoing  programme  does  not  alter  the  fact 
that  it  represents  a  certain  advance  and  that  this 
advance  is  primarily  due  to  the  investigation  by 
Senator  Chamberlain's  committee.  It  is  a  striking 
tribute  to  the  necessity  for  and  the  good  results  of 
that  investigation. 

The  investigation  has  been  wholly  non-partisan. 
It  has  been  conducted  with  an  eye  single  to  the  needs 
of  the  army  and  of  our  country.  Senator  Cham 
berlain  is  a  Democrat,  just  as  Secretary  Baker  is  a 
Democrat.  The  committee  has  fearlessly  exposed 
very  grave  abuses  and  shortcomings  and  has  taken 
constructive  action  to  remedy  them.  Secretary 
Baker's  testimony  shows  that,  to  use  the  language  of 
Senator  Chamberlain,  the  President  has  been  misled 
as  to  the  facts.  His  statements  as  to  the  satisfactory 
condition  of  things  in  the  camps  are  not  in  accord 
with  the  facts.  It  is,  of  course,  exceedingly  difficult 
to  get  testimony  from  army  officers  because  they 
have  vividly  before  their  eyes  the  signal  punishment 
inflicted  by  the  Administration  on  General  Wood  for 
fearlessly  telling  the  truth,  and  those  of  us  who  have 
examined  conditions  and  know  how  bad  they  are 
cannot  give  our  authorities  in  many  cases  because 
we  will  not  expose  good  officers  to  punishment  in 
order  to  save  ourselves  from  contradiction. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  CRITICISM  95 

But  certain  vitally  important  facts  are  easily 
attainable.  At  the  very  time  that  Secretary  Baker 
was  testifying  that  the  army  had  enough  rifles,  the 
governor  of  Mississippi  in  the  public  press  on  Janu 
ary  17  stated  that  he  had  been  helpless  to  prevent 
the  burning  alive  of  a  negro  because  the  home  guards 
had  no  rifles  and  because  "  there  are  over  five  hun 
dred  national  guardsmen  at  Camp  Jackson,  but 
they  are  equally  helpless  because  they  have  no 
rifles."  Many  deficiencies  can  be  covered  up  or  their 
existence  denied,  but  some  cannot  thus  be  concealed. 
Any  one  can  see  the  wooden  cannon  and  wooden 
machine  guns  in  the  training  camps,  every  one  knows 
that  our  army  at  the  front  has  French  cannon  and 
French  machine  guns.  Will  not  Secretary  Baker 
state  frankly  when  our  own  cannon  and  machine 
guns  will  be  ready?  After  one  year  of  war  we  have 
none.  Must  we  wait  another  year  before  getting 
them?  Caspar  Whitney,  a  responsible  man,  has 
stated  lamentable  shortcomings  of  our  army  at  the 
front.  Will  not  the  Secretary  advise  us  what  steps 
he  has  taken  to  investigate  this  statement  and 
remedy  the  shortcomings? 

The  appointment  of  Mr.  Stettinius  is  a  good  thing, 
but  it  does  not  represent  even  a  half  step  toward 
bringing  order  out  of  the  administrative  chaos  at 
Washington.  Drastic  action  is  needed  to  secure  a 
plan  providing  for  coordination,  responsibility  and 
efficiency,  and  above  all,  for  securing  the  right  men 
to  administer  the  plan. 


96  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

SECRETARY   BAKER'S   GENERAL   DENIAL 
FEBRUARY  2,  1918 

SECRETARY  BAKER'S  denial  of  any  serious  short 
comings  in  the  administration  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  comes  under  several  heads.  Part  of  it  is 
prophecy,  which  we  all  hope  will  turn  out  to  be 
justified.  Part  of  it  is  explanation  or  denials  of  facts, 
as  to  which  it  is  easy  to  get  first-hand  information. 
With  this  part  I  shall  deal  in  my  next  editorial. 
Part  of  it  relates  to  allegations  as  to  which  it  is  al 
most  impossible  to  get  first-hand  information  except 
from  officers  whose  names  cannot  be  quoted,  because 
this  would  probably  entail  punishment  upon  them. 
It  is  with  this  part  that  I  now  deal. 

General  Wood  two  years  ago,  before  the  congres 
sional  committee,  and  again  one  year  ago,  before  the 
congressional  committee,  set  forth  in  detail  our  un- 
preparedness.  Every  fact  he  stated  has  proved  to 
be  true  and  to  be  but  a  small  part  of  the  truth.  Yet 
he  has  been  singled  out  for  punishment  because  of 
thus  having  told  Congress  the  truth,  and  this  al 
though  we  and  our  allies  are  now  paying  dearly  for 
our  failure  to  act  on  the  truth  which  he  thus  told. 
Under  such  conditions  it  is  impossible  to  make  public 
the  names  of  the  officers  and  enlisted  men  through 
whom  we  occasionally  learn  of  abuses.  Neverthe 
less,  it  is  imperative  to  try  to  correct  the  abuses.  If 
the  Administration  had  not  punished  General  Wood 
for  telling  the  truth,  the  complaints  would  be  at  once 


SECRETARY  BAKER'S  GENERAL  DENIAL  97 

laid  before  the  department  and  the  wrongs  remedied. 
Under  existing  conditions  it  is  imperative  to  call  pub 
lic  attention  to  them. 

A  major-general  informed  me  in  October  that  he 
had  one  hundred  rifles  for  twenty  thousand  men,  and 
most  strongly  felt  that  these  men  should  not  have 
been  brought  to  the  camp  until  the  hospitals, 
barracks,  heating  arrangements,  clothes,  and  arms 
were  ready  for  them.  Another  major-general  told 
me,  in  explanation  of  the  shortage  of  supplies  abroad, 
that  one  shipload  of  big  coast  defense  guns  had  to  be 
returned  because  when  they  reached  France  it  was 
discovered  that  there  were  no  carriages  for  them. 
Hundreds  of  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers 
have  told  me  of  lack  of  overcoats,  of  winter  under 
clothing,  of  heavy  socks.  One  quartermaster,  being 
unable  otherwise  to  get  woolen  gloves  for  the  men  in 
cold  weather,  finally  got  them  from  the  Red  Cross 
and  was  officially  reprimanded  for  so  doing.  Two 
officers  informed  me  that  when  in  France  there  was 
a  shortage  of  shoes.  They  were  told  it  was  due  to  a 
shipment  of  coffins,  one  being  told  that  they  were 
not  regular  coffins,  but  boxes  containing  grave- 
clothes.  The  newspaper  correspondents  repeatedly 
have  told  of  the  shortage  of  shoes,  one  recent  state 
ment  being  that  a  shipment  of  clay  pigeons,  not 
coffins,  was  sent  over,  while  Mr.  Caspar  Whitney 
recites  that  the  surplusage  was  a  large  shipment  of 
hospital  cots.  At  any  rate,  the  shortage  of  shoes  is 
unquestioned,  whether  their  places  were  taken  by 
coffins,  clay  pigeons,  or  hospital  cots.  A  leading 


98  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

New  York  business  man  has  just  written  me  of  the 
complete  lack  of  hospital  and  medical  facilities  in 
one  camp.  The  superintendent  of  a  Bible  teachers' 
training  school  writes  that  his  son  volunteered, 
leaving  a  wife  and  two  little  children;  that  his  pay 
was  over  a  month  in  arrears,  and  that  at  Christmas 
time  he  wrote  as  follows: 

We  have  not  yet  received  our  November  pay.  At  this 
time  of  the  year  the  boys  don't  want  it  for  themselves;  they 
want  to  send  some  little  thing  home  to  their  mothers  or  wives 
or  sweethearts,  and  in  lots  of  cases  to  their  children,  to  whom 
just  a  little  something  from  daddy  means  so  much.  Yet  even 
that  little  pleasure  is  denied  us.  Can  you  not  bring  this  to  the 
attention  of  the  people  who  are  supporting  this  Government? 

I  have  received  many  hundreds  such  appeals.  To 
give  the  names  of  the  writers  would  insure  their 
punishment.  To  pay  no  heed  to  their  appeals  means 
that  the  abuses  go  unremedied.  Doubtless  an  occa 
sional  informant  is  in  error  in  his  statement.  But 
Senator  Chamberlain's  speech  and  the  testimony 
taken  before  his  committee  prove  that  the  important 
statements  I  have  made  during  the  last  few  months 
as  to  the  shortcomings  in  our  army  have  been  more 
than  warranted  by  the  facts. 

LET  GEORGE  SPEED  UP  THE  WAR 
FEBRUARY  3,  1918 

IN  my  last  editorial  I  spoke  of  the  things  of  which 
Secretary  Baker  explicitly  or  implicitly  denies  the 
existence,  in  justifying  the  Administration  for  the 
military  delay  and  shortcomings  that  have  marked 


LET  GEORGE  SPEED  UP  THE  WAR       99 

our  entry  into  war.  But  as  to  the  major  facts  there 
is  no  room  for  denial.  As  to  these  Secretary  Baker 
falls  back  on  the  comfortable  doctrine  that  all  our 
shortcomings  are  of  no  consequence  because  they 
are  made  good  anyhow  by  the  efforts  of  our  allies  — 
who,  by  the  way,  with  preposterous  silliness,  are 
in  official  circles  merely  termed  our  associates. 
Secretary  Baker  explains  that,  although  our  forces 
in  France  have  no  field  artillery  or  auto  rifles,  this 
is  of  no  consequence  because  the  French  love  to  give 
us  artillery  and  auto  rifles.  He  explains  that  the 
greatest  German  offensive  movement  of  the  war  is 
about  to  take  place,  an  offensive  movement  which, 
if  successful,  means  that  we  have  lost  the  war,  and 
he  adds  that  we  can  trust  England  and  France  to 
repel  this  offensive.  This  is  a  naked  statement  that 
we  are  to  let  George  do  it.  We  are  to  announce  that 
after  being  at  war  just  a  year  our  delays  have  been 
so  great  that  we  are  almost  negligible  in  the  military 
sense  and  that  we  must  trust  to  our  allies  to  speed  up 
the  war. 

This  verifies  the  prediction  of  von  Hindenburg 
and  von  Tirpitz  that  it  would  take  us  eighteen 
months  to  become  a  real  factor  in  the  war.  Ameri 
cans  laughed  at  this  statement,  but  the  ruthless  and 
brutal  and  intelligent  Germans  were  right  and  our 
own  soft  sentimentalities  were  their  efficient  allies. 
We  are  in  the  position  of  letting  George  speed  up 
the  war.  Are  the  citizens  of  a  proud  and  high- 
spirited  Nation  to  be  content  with  such  a  position? 

Our  major  shortcomings  can  neither  be  concealed 


ioo  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

nor  denied.  In  October  I  personally  saw  thousands 
of  infantrymen  drilling  with  sticks.  In  December  I 
still  saw  artillerymen  with  sticks  instead  of  rifles.  A 
month  ago  most  of  the  cannon  in  the  national  army 
camps,  which  I  saw,  were  made  of  logs  or  of  sections 
of  telegraph  poles  and  all  the  machine  guns  I  saw 
were  wooden  dummies.  The  daily  press  has  re 
peatedly  published  photos  of  these  wooden  rifles, 
cannon,  and  machine  guns.  Secretary  Baker  cannot 
deny  this  nor  can  he  deny  that  in  modern  war  an 
army  without  artillery  is  helpless.  We  are  now 
getting  a  small  number  of  machine  guns.  We  are 
turning  some  heavy  coast  guns  into  field  artillery, 
but  as  yet  gallant  General  Pershing  and  his  gallant 
men  in  France  have  to  trust  to  the  French  for  ar 
tillery  and  machine  guns  and  war  planes,  and,  thanks 
to  our  dawdling  and  indecision,  we  have  an  utterly 
insufficient  number  of  cargo  ships. 

We  have  been  at  war  a  year.  In  April  Congress 
stated  that  Germany  had  already  committed  re 
peated  acts  of  war  against  us  and  that  our  own  dec 
laration  of  war  was  formal.  It  was  then  too  late 
to  undo  the  criminal  mischief  caused  by  our  refusal 
to  prepare  during  the  preceding  two  and  a  half 
years,  but  we  aggravated  the  damage  immensely  by 
our  delays  and  follies.  If  we  had  exercised  reason 
able  energy  we  would  in  six  months  have  achieved 
more  than  we  have  actually  achieved  in  a  year.  The 
least  we  can  do  now  is  to  speed  up  the  war  ourselves. 
Let  us  insist  that  this  be  the  end  toward  which  with 
all  our  energy  we  now  strive. 


LET  UNCLE  SAM  GET  INTO  THE  GAME 

LET  UNCLE  SAM   GET   INTO  THE  GAME 

FEBRUARY  5,  1918 

No  one  can  tell  how  long  this  war  will  last.  It  may 
last  three  years  more,  and  we  should  prepare  accord 
ingly.  But  it  may  close  this  year,  and  it  is  unpardon 
able  of  us  not  to  act  with  such  speed  as  to  make  our 
help  available  in  substantial  form  at  once.  Uncle 
Sam  must  not  be  put  in  the  position  of  the  sub,  who 
only  gets  into  the  game  just  before  the  whistle 
blows.  Above  all,  he  must  not  so  act  as  to  rouse 
suspicion  that  this  attitude  is  due  to  deliberate 
shirking  on  his  part. 

The  prime  aid  in  getting  Uncle  Sam  into  the  game 
has  come  from  the  men  who,  in  order  to  achieve  this 
object,  have  truthfully  set  forth  the  unpleasant  facts 
about  our  delay,  military  inefficiency,  and  total  un- 
preparedness.  The  critics  of  these  men  have  been 
either  unwise  or  insincere.  The  most  fatuous  form 
of  objection  to  such  truth-telling  is  the  assertion  that 
it  tends  to  prolong  the  war.  It  is  the  only  thing  that 
will  shorten  the  war.  Suppression  of  the  truth  as  the 
habitual  governmental  policy  has  been  successful  in 
preventing  our  people  from  realizing  our  mistakes 
and  even  more  successful  in  preventing  their  remedy. 

An  excellent  example  of  this  policy  of  falsehood  is 
furnished  in  a  letter  from  a  news  agency  offering  to 
various  newspapers  cartoons  assailing  me  because  I 
had  "  criticized  our  unprepared  ness  and  urged  an 
immediate  movement  toward  universal  obligatory 
military  training,'*  the  cartoonist  saying  that  I  had 


ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

said  that  I  had  seen  artillerymen  drilling  with 
"  wooden  guns  made  from  pieces  of  telegraph  poles. " 
The  writer  admitted  this,  but  stated  that  "  these 
wooden  imitations  were  as  efficient  for  the  purposes 
of  learning  as  the  real  guns.'*  I  suppose  that  this 
particular  champion  of  military  inefficiency  would 
believe  that  a  rifle  team  could  train  for  a  champion 
ship  match  with  dummy  rifles  of  wood. 

Every  important  criticism  made  of  our  military 
unpreparedness  and  inefficiency  during  the  past  six 
months,  and  indeed  during  the  preceding  three  years, 
has  been  proved  true  and  in  no  case  has  there  been 
correction  of  the  abuse  until  it  was  exposed.  General 
Pershing  has  just  written  home  a  scathing  indict 
ment  of  the  military  shortcomings  of  our  higher 
officers  abroad.  This  is  after  we  have  been  at  war  a 
year,  and  it  is  directly  due  to  the  character  of  both 
the  civilian  and  the  military  control  that  has  been 
exercised  from  the  swivel  chairs  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  during  this  year. 

Our  duty  is  solely  to  the  country  and  to  every 
official  high  or  low  precisely  to  the  extent  to  which 
he  loyally,  disinterestedly,  and  efficiently  serves  the 
country.  Let  us  get  behind  the  United  States.  Let 
us  think  only  of  our  patriotic  duty.  I  care  not  a  rap 
for  politics  at  such  a  time  as  this.  I  supported  Sen 
ator  Chamberlain,  my  political  and  to  some  extent 
my  personal  opponent  in  the  past,  because  on  the 
great  issue  now  up  he  served  the  country.  I  sup 
ported  General  Crowder,  of  whose  politics  I  know 
nothing  and  care  less,  because  he  served  the  country. 
Stand  behind  America. 


CONSERVATION  IS  IMPORTANT        103 

CONSERVATION   IS  IMPORTANT   AND 
PRODUCTION  IS  MORE  IMPORTANT 

FEBRUARY  15,  1918 

IT  is  very  important  that  we  should  conserve  many 
things,  but  especially  food.  It  is,  however,  very 
much  more  important  that  we  shall  produce  the 
food  in  order  to  conserve  it.  The  governmental 
attitude  toward  production  during  the  past  year 
has  been,  at  points,  very  unwise.  There  has  not 
only  been  failure  to  encourage  producing  the  one 
thing  vitally  necessary  to  this  Nation  at  this  time, 
but  there  has  been  at  times,  by  unwise  price-fixing, 
a  direct  discouragement  of  producing. 

We  have  suffered  severely  during  this  winter  be 
cause  of  this  attitude  in  the  matter  of  coal  produc 
tion.  One  of  the  factors  in  producing  the  misery  and 
discomfort,  especially  among  people  of  limited  means 
during  the  severe  weather  of  the  last  few  months, 
was  the  improperly  low  price  rate  established  last 
summer,  and  the  uncertain  and  contradictory  atti 
tude  of  the  Government  on  the  question  of  coal 
production. 

But  important  though  all  production  is,  the  pro 
duction  of  food,  the  production  which  we  owe  to  the 
farmer,  is  the  most  important  of  all.  This  country 
needs  more  food.  Its  allies  need  more  food.  Only 
the  farmer  can  give  the  food.  It  is  nonsense  to 
expect  him  to  produce  it  unless  he  can  make  his 
livelihood  by  so  doing.  The  farmer  is  thoroughly 


104  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

patriotic;  he  stands  ready  now  as  he  has  stood 
ready  in  every  crisis  of  the  Nation,  pledged  to  do  his 
full  duty,  and  a  little  more  than  his  duty.  But  he 
makes  his  livelihood  by  producing  what  is  essential 
to  the  livelihood  of  the  rest  of  us.  He  cannot  produce 
unless  he  makes  his  livelihood.  Not  a  step  should 
be  taken  that  interferes  with  his  welfare,  save  after 
such  wise  and  cautious  inquiry  as  to  make  us  certain 
that  the  step  is  necessary. 

We  should  do  whatever  is  necessary  to  help  the 
farmer  produce  the  maximum  of  food  at  this  time. 
Moreover,  every  step  we  take  should  be  conditioned 
upon  securing  the  farmer's  permanent  well-being. 
The  city  man  is  often  utterly  ignorant  of  the  work 
and  of  the  needs  of  the  man  who  lives  in  the  open 
country.  The  working-man  and  the  business  man 
who  growl  about  one  another  are  a  little  apt  to  join 
in  growling  about  the  farmer.  The  city  Socialist  is 
more  utterly  ignorant  of  the  farmer  than  any  other 
human  being.  Last  fall  the  Socialist  campaign  in 
New  York  had  for  one  of  its  battle  cries  the  an 
nouncement  that  they  intended  to  make  the  farmer 
give  them  five-cent  milk.  Apparently  the  detail 
that  the  farmer  had  to  feed  the  cows  and  take  care 
of  them  struck  them  as  unworthy  of  notice. 

The  farmer  must  have  labor.  But  there  must  be 
no  importation  of  Chinese  or  any  other  cheap  labor, 
whether  permanent  or  temporary.  The  emergency 
need  of  farm  labor  for  planting  and  harvesting  can 
be  met  at  this  time  just  as  the  need  for  the  national 
army  was  met.  The  farmer  must  have  first-class 


THE  PEOPLE'S  WAR  105 

prices  for  his  products.  No  price-fixing  at  his  ex 
pense  must  be  gone  into  without  the  clearest  ne 
cessity  being  shown,  and  above  all  there  must  be  no 
repetition  of  the  folly  that  marked  the  dealing  with 
the  fuel  situation  last  summer.  The  farmer  must 
have  what  capital  he  needs  at  a  rate  of  interest  not 
excessive,  in  order  to  plant  and  reap  his  crop  this 
year.  The  aid  can  be  given  to  groups  of  farmers  who 
underwrite  one  another,  so  to  speak,  and,  of  course, 
if  he  can  be  given  it  by  private  means,  so  much  the 
better.  If  that  is  impossible,  then  the  Government 
should  act.  We  should  profit  by  the  admirable 
California  example  to  see  that  the  help  is  given  only 
to  the  man  who  is  a  real  farmer  and  can  really  make 
use  of  it,  but  that  it  is  extended  in  such  a  way  as  to 
be  of  genuine  and  material  benefit. 

This  is  the  immediate  need,  and  let  us  treat  meet 
ing  this  need  as  the  opening  wedge  of  a  policy  de 
signed  to  prevent  the  growth  of  tenant  farms  at  the 
expense  of  the  farm  owner  who  tills  his  own  soil, 
and  designed  also  to  put  a  premium  upon  the  per 
manent  prosperity  of  the  small  farmer  as  compared 
with  the  big  landowner. 


THE  PEOPLE'S  WAR 

FEBRUARY  26,  1918 

IT  is  not  agreeable  to  keep  insisting  on  the  need  of 
doing  better  than  we  have  done.  It  is  not  agreeable 
to  keep  pointing  out  our  shortcomings,  but  to  do  so 


106  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

is  the  only  way  of  remedying  them  and  of  securing 
better  action  in  the  future. 

The  people,  some  of  them  well-meaning,  some  of 
them  anything  but  well-meaning,  who  denounce 
criticism  and  who  object  to  telling  the  minimum  of 
truth  necessary  to  correct  our  faults,  are  the  efficient 
allies  of  Germany  and  the  foes  of  the  United  States. 
Actual  events  have  shown  that  fatuous  complacency 
on  the  part  of  our  officials  has  resulted  in  inefficiency 
and  delay  which  would  have  meant  overwhelming 
disaster  to  this  Nation  if  we  had  not  been  protected 
by  the  fleets  and  armies  of  England  and  France. 

For  the  first  eleven  months  of  this  war  the  ineffi 
ciency  at  vital  points  in  our  Government,  notably  in 
the  matter  of  shipping  and  in  the  management  of 
the  War  Department,  was  worse  than  anything 
Russia  herself  has  ever  seen.  Nearly  thirteen  months 
have  now  passed  since  Germany  went  to  war  with  us 
and  we  broke  relations  with  Germany  and  after 
wards  timidly  and  helplessly  drifted  stern  foremost 
into  what  we  styled  a  "  formal  "  state  of  war.  The 
Russo-Japanese  War  likewise  began  before  there 
was  any  formal  declaration  of  war.  It  only  lasted 
sixteen  months.  We  have  been  accustomed  to  hold 
out  Russia's  action  during  that  sixteen  months  as  a 
miracle  of  inefficiency,  but  she  showed  herself  far 
less  inefficient  than  we  have  shown  ourselves  during 
the  thirteen  months  that  have  just  passed,  and,  of 
course,  there  was  nothing  in  her  conduct  quite  as 
bad  as  our  criminal  folly  in  utterly  failing  in  any 
shape  or  way  to  prepare  during  the  two  and  a  half 


THE  PEOPLE'S  WAR  107 

previous  years.  There  is  just  one  difference  between 
the  two  cases.  Russia  did  not  have  England  and 
France  to  protect  her  from  the  effects  of  her  folly. 
That  we  have  been  at  liberty  to  indulge  in  our  folly 
with  impunity  is  due  only  to  the  fact  that  England 
and  France  have  protected  us  with  the  blood  of  their 
bravest,  while  we  have  refused  to  prepare  and  then 
delayed  and  blundered  and  fatuously  boasted  after 
the  war  came  on.  Every  pro-German,  of  course, 
heartily  applauds  these  blunders  and  delays  and 
bitterly  objects  to  their  being  pointed  out,  but  every 
American  with  a  particle  of  patriotism  in  him,  every 
American  proud  of  his  country,  should  learn  the 
bitter  lesson  and  should  resolve  that  never  again 
will  we  permit  our  great  Nation  to  be  put  in  such  an 
ignoble  position. 

Our  worst  failure,  of  course,  has  been  our  failure 
to  grapple  with  the  shipping  problem.  But  there 
have  been  many  such  failures.  One  was  the  failure 
to  equip  Pershing's  army.  I  do  not  believe  a  more 
gallant  little  army  than  Pershing's  was  ever  sent 
abroad,  but  without  abundant  artillery,  machine 
guns,  and  airplanes  a  modern  army  is  as  helpless  as 
if  its  men  were  armed  only  with  stone-headed  axes. 
Pershing's  army  has  only  the  field  artillery,  machine 
guns,  and  airplanes  that  the  French  have  given  it, 
and  this,  although  since  our  troops  landed  last  June, 
a  longer  time  has  elapsed  than  covered  the  whole 
Franco-Prussian  War.  As  regards  the  field  artillery, 
the  fault  is  due  to  the  blind  refusal  of  the  Govern 
ment  to  prepare  in  advance  to  build  the  guns.  As 


io8  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

regards  the  machine  guns  and  auto  rifles,  the  fault 
is  due  to  our  Government's  refusal  during  the  last 
thirteen  months  to  utilize  the  Lewis  gun. 

Steps  have  been  taken  to  remedy  some  of  the 
worst  of  these  evils  in  the  War  Department.  They 
have  been  taken  only  and  purely  because  of  public 
criticism  of  them  and  because  of  the  fearless  exposure 
of  inefficiency  of  Senator  Chamberlain  and  his 
colleagues  of  the  Senate  investigating  committee. 
Until  this  committee  began  its  labor,  the  War  De 
partment  had  striven  to  conceal  and  had  refused 
to  remedy  its  inefficiency,  blundering,  and  delay. 
There  has  been  some  improvement,  and  this  im 
provement  is  due  solely  to  the  Senate  committee. 

This  is  the  people's  war.  It  is  not  the  President's 
war  any  more  than  it  is  Congress's  war.  It  is  Amer 
ica's  war.  We  are  in  honor  bound  in  conducting  it 
to  stand  by  every  official  who  does  well  and  against 
every  official  who  fails  to  do  well.  Any  other  attitude 
is  a  servile  attitude.  Congress  on  the  whole  has 
done  well.  Until  Congress  finally  asserted  itself 
the  executive  branch  of  the  Government  did  very 
badly.  If  Congress  follows  the  lead  outlined  in  the 
Chamberlain  Bill,  it  will  continue  to  do  well;  if  it 
follows  the  lead  outlined  in  Senator  Overman's 
Bill,  it  will  condone  the  inefficiency  of  the  past  and 
put  a  premium  upon  inefficiency  in  the  future. 
Congress  must  not  shirk  its  duty  to  the  people.  Let 
the  machinery  of  the  Government  be  modernized 
and  above  all  let  this  machinery  be  manned  by  men 
of  distinguished  and  demonstrated  ability  who  will 


THE  FRUITS  OF  FIFTY-FIFTY  LOYALTY     109 

make  the  governmental  conduct  efficient  instead  of 
grossly  inefficient,  as  it  was  during  the  first  year  of 
the  war. 

Let  us  quit  being  content  with  feeble  mediocrity. 
Let  us  demand  really  first-class  efficiency  in  both 
preparation  and  performance.  That  is  the  only  way 
to  do  what  we  must  do  and  see  this  war  through  to 
a  triumphant  conclusion. 


THE   FRUITS   OF   FIFTY-FIFTY   LOYALTY 

MARCH  2,  1918 

A  CAPTAIN  in  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States 
has  just  been  justly  sentenced  to  twenty-five  years' 
imprisonment  for  trying  to  combine  loyalty  to  this 
country  with  loyalty  to  Germany.  He  was  born  here 
of  German  parents.  In  Germany,  for  such  an  of 
fense,  he  would  have  been  instantly  shot  or  hung. 
And  in  Germany  organizations  and  newspapers 
responsible  for  causing  such  action  would  be  in 
stantly  suppressed  and  their  organizers  and  editors 
heavily  punished. 

The  unfortunate  army  officer  in  question  is  paying 
the  penalty  for  heeding  such  organizations  as  the 
German-American  Alliance.  Mr.  Gustavus  Ohlinger 
has  put  before  Congress  facts  concerning  the  past 
actions  and  activities  of  this  organization  which 
warrant  and  require  its  instant  suppression.  Its 
leaders  have  sometimes  been  men  who  practiced  a 
fifty-fifty  loyalty  between  this  country  and  Germany 


I  io  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

and  sometimes  men  all  of  whose  loyalty  was  for 
Germany  and  all  whose  enmity  was  for  the  nation 
ality,  ideals,  and  language  of  the  American  people. 
It  is  an  outrage  that  such  an  organization  should 
be  permitted  longer  to  exist.  Congress  should  act 
against  it  at  once  and  the  Department  of  Justice 
should  abandon  its  slack  attitude  toward  German 
spies  and  should  so  act  as  to  convince  our  enemies 
that  Uncle  Sam  is  not  a  timid  and  soft-headed  fool, 
and  that  hereafter  German  spies,  dynamiters,  and 
murderers  who  ply  their  trade  here  will  do  so  at  the 
risk  of  their  necks. 

Teaching  German  in  the  public  schools  should  be 
prohibited.  German  language  newspapers  should 
have  a  time  limit  act,  after  which  it  should  not  be 
lawful  to  publish  them  save  in  English.  A  few  of 
their  newspapers  have  a  most  honorable  past  and 
are  doing  excellent  work  in  the  present.  A  number 
of  English  language  newspapers  have  preached  moral 
treason  to  the  American  people,  often  covering  it  by 
zeal  in  denouncing  all  honest  and  truthful  men  who 
point  out  the  delays  and  inefficiencies  in  govern 
ment,  actions  which  make  those  responsible  for 
them  enemies  of  the  American  people  and  aids  to 
Germany;  but  moral  treason  in  English  is  at  least 
open,  whereas  in  a  foreign  language  it  is  hidden. 
Moral  treason  is  not  necessarily  legal  treason,  but 
it  may  be  as  dangerous,  and  from  senators  to  school 
teachers,  all  public  servants  who  deal  in  it  should 
promptly  be  removed  from  office. 

The  organizations,  newspapers,  and  public  serv- 


QUIT  TALKING  PEACE.  in 

ants  who  thus  betray  the  honor  of  America  in  the 
interest  of  Germany  wrong  all  their  fellow  citizens. 
But  above  all  they  cruelly  wrong  those  loyal  Ameri 
cans,  the  great  majority  of  our  citizens  who  are  in 
whole  or  in  part  of  German  blood.  The  loyal  major 
ity  should  lend  their  utmost  energies  to  securing  the 
condign  and  summary  punishment  of  the  disloyal 
minority  of  Americans  of  German  blood  who  are  a 
disgrace  and  a  menace  to  this  country.  Gustavus 
Ohlinger  is  an  admirable  example  of  the  Americans 
in  whole  or  in  part  of  German  blood  who  is  an 
American  and  nothing  else.  All  good  Americans, 
and  especially  all  good  Americans  of  German  blood, 
should  actively  and  heartily  back  him.  There  is  no 
room  in  this  country  for  fifty-fifty  Americanism. 


QUIT  TALKING  PEACE 

MARCH  5,  1918 

THE  experience  of  Trotzky,  Lenine,  and  the  other 
Bolshevist  leaders  in  their  peace  negotiations  with 
Germany  ought  to  be  illuminating  to  our  own  people. 
Germany  encouraged  them  to  enter  peace  negotia 
tions,  spoke  fairly  to  them,  got  them  committed  to 
the  abandonment  of  their  allies,  used  them  to  de 
moralize  Russia  and  make  it  impossible  for  her  to 
organize  effective  resistance,  and  then  threw  them 
over,  instantly  invaded  their  land,  and  now  holds  a 
part  of  Russia. 

Let  our  people  take  warning  and  insist  that  all 


112  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

peace  talk  cease  forthwith.  Germany  is  the  enemy 
of  humanity  generally  and  in  a  special  sense  is  the 
enemy  of  the  United  States.  She  has  introduced 
into  warfare  horrors  which  not  another  civilized 
nation  would  have  dreamed  of  using.  Her  conduct 
toward  Belgium  stands  out  on  the  high  peak  of  in 
famy.  She  has  murdered  innocent  women  and 
children  wholesale  on  the  high  seas  and  hundreds  of 
Americans  have  thus  been  slain.  She  has  organized 
murder,  rape,  robbery,  and  devastation  on  a  gigantic 
scale  in  every  conquered  territory.  Our  own  sons 
and  brothers  are  at  this  moment  facing  death  by  the 
awful  torture  of  the  poison  gas  because  Germany  has 
invented  methods  of  warfare  more  cruel  than  those 
of  the  Dark  Ages.  Peace  on  equal  terms  with  such 
a  foe  would  mean  black  shame  in  the  present  and  the 
certainty  of  renewed  and  wholesale  war  in  the  future. 
To  talk  peace  means  to  puzzle  the  ignorant  and 
to  weaken  the  will  of  even  the  stout-hearted.  It  is 
hailed  with  evil  joy  by  all  the  men  in  this  country 
who  have  opposed  war  and  have  wished  us  to  sub 
mit  tamely  to  German  brutality.  When  there  comes 
from  Washington  an  announcement  about  peace 
terms  which  the  pacifists  and  pro-Germans  are  able 
to  interpret  as  favorable  to  their  views,  the  Hearst 
papers  gleefully  champion  it  as  undoing  the  effect  of 
previous  declarations  that  we  are  in  this  war  to  the 
end,  and  Mr.  Hillquit,  the  New  York  mayoralty  can 
didate  of  the  Germanized  Socialists  and  the  pacifists, 
expresses  his  hearty  approval  and  says  that  the 
President  has  now  taken  his  (Mr.  Hillquit's)  position. 


ENEMIES  OF  LOYAL  AMERICANS       113 

Let  us  quit  talking  peace  with  a  foe  who,  if  we 
entered  into  peace  negotiations,  would,  according  to 
his  ability,  trick  us  as  he  has  already  tricked  the 
Bolsheviki  of  Russia.  Let  us  not  put  ourselves  on 
the  moral  and  intellectual  level  of  Trotzky  and 
Lenine.  Every  peace  utterance  pleases  the  Germans, 
renders  our  allies  uneasy,  strengthens  the  pacifists, 
the  pro-Germans,  and  the  various  seditious  elements 
in  our  own  country,  and  bewilders,  disheartens,  and 
weakens  our  honest  citizens. 

The  time  when  words  about  peace  were  useful 
passed  a  very  long  time  ago.  Let  us  now  merely 
announce  that  we  are  in  this  war  to  fight  until  Ger 
many  is  beaten  to  her  knees.  Then  let  us  bend  our 
entire  energy  to  building  ships  and  more  ships'at  the 
greatest  possible  speed  and  putting  a  couple  of 
million  men  on  the  firing  line  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  That  is  the  effective  way  to  bring  a  just 
and  lasting  peace. 

THE  WORST  ENEMIES   OF  CERTAIN 

LOYAL  AMERICANS 

MARCH  10,  1918 

THE  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States  in  the 
training  camps,  on  the  high  seas,  and  at  the  battle 
front,  are  at  this  moment  proving  themselves  the 
most  potent  agencies  of  Americanism  that  our 
country  contains.  All  good  Americans  should  feel  a 
peculiar  pride  in  the  fine  and  gallant  loyalty  with 
which  the  great  majority  of  the  Americans  of  Ger- 


114  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

man  descent  have  come  forward  to  do  their  part  to 
win  this  war  against  the  brutal  and  merciless  tyr 
anny  of  the  Prussianized  Germany  of  the  Hohen- 
zollerns.  As  regards  able-bodied  men,  this  service 
must  be  rendered  in  the  army,  for  in  war-time  no 
other  form  of  activity  can  be  accepted  as  a  substitute 
for  the  fighting  work  of  the  fighting  man. 

I  continually  meet  officers  from  the  front.  A  cap 
tain  recently  out  of  the  trenches  called  on  me  the 
other  day.  His  father  and  mother  were  born  in 
Germany.  He  himself,  after  going  through  a  small 
American  college,  had  spent  three  years  at  Heidel 
berg.  He  mentioned  that  one  of  his  lieutenants  was 
born  in  Norway,  and  that  another  was  of  Irish 
parentage,  and  then  continued  by  saying  that  al 
ready  his  brief  experience  of  the  war  had  given  him 
a  horror  of  the  Germany  of  to-day,  had  convinced 
him  that  our  only  safety  lay  in  the  complete  Ameri 
canization  of  all  our  people  and  therefore  in  the  in 
sistence  that  English  should  be  the  only  language  of 
this  country  and  the  only  language  taught  in  any 
primary  school,  and  that  he  regarded  such  organiza 
tions  as  the  German-American  Alliance  as  guilty  of 
moral  treason  to  America  as  the  worst  and  most 
dangerous  foes  of  good  Americans  of  German  blood, 
and  as  richly  deserving  to  be  promptly  suppressed 
and  punished. 

An  officer  from  our  destroyer  squadron  across  the 
seas  informed  me  that  our  destroyers  had  'accounted 
for  nearly  a  score  of  submarines;  that  about  a 
quarter  of  their  crews  were,  as  indicated  by  their 


GIRD  UP  OUR  LOINS  115 

names,  of  German  descent,  but  straight-out  Ameri 
cans  and  nothing  else;  that  his  own  best  gun-pointer 
was  named  Fritz  Heinz ;  and  that  their  keenest  indig 
nation  was  reserved  for  the  German  officials  in  Ger 
many  and  the  German-American  Alliance  in  America 
whose  actions  tended  to  make  a  wall  between  them 
and  their  fellow  Americans  and  who  inflicted  the 
most  cruel  wrong  possible  upon  them  by  exciting 
among  other  Americans  an  indiscriminate  distrust 
and  anger  toward  all  men  of  German  origin. 

These  men  were  absolutely  right.  We  speak  in  the 
name  of  all  good  Americans  and  on  behalf  of  Fritz 
and  Adolph  and  Gustav  exactly  as  on  behalf  of  Bill 
and  Harry  and  Edward,  when  we  demand  the 
prompt  suppression  of  the  German-American  Alli 
ance  and  of  all  similar  organizations.  The  German 
blood  is  exactly  as  good  as  any  other  blood,  but  ex 
actly  as,  under  the  corroding  influence  of  slavery, 
masses  of  Americans  of  the  best  blood  once  became 
the  enemies  of  the  Union  and  of  humanity,  so  under 
the  debasing  and  brutalizing  influence  of  the  kultur 
of  the  last  fifty  years,  Germany  has  become  the  cruel 
and  treacherous  enemy  of  the  United  States  and  of 
all  the  other  liberty-loving  nations  of  mankind. 

GIRD  UP  OUR  LOINS 

MARCH  16,  1918 

THE  Bible  warns  us  to  gird  up  our  loins  if  we  wish  to 
win  a  race.  Most  certainly  we  cannot  expect  to  do 
well  in  the  present  struggle  unless  we  bend  every 


ii6  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

energy  to  the  task  and  exercise  all  our  forethought 
in  instant  preparation. 

Russia's  betrayal  of  the  Allied  cause  under  the 
foolish  and  iniquitous  lead  of  the  Bolsheviki  has  been 
a  betrayal  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  cause  of 
liberty  and  democracy  and  justice  throughout  the 
world.  Above  all,  it  has  been  a  betrayal  of  Russia 
herself,  and  it  has,  of  course,  absolved  us  of  every 
obligation  to  her.  Our  duty  is  to  stand  by  England 
and  France  and  Belgium  and  Serbia,  who  have  stood 
by  us.  Russia  has  ruined  herself  in  Germany's  in 
terest,  and  has  immensely  increased  the  peril  for  the 
rest  of  us.  This  simply  means  that  we  ought  to  re 
double  our  effort.  We  should  be  building  the  cargo 
ships  in  three  eight-hour  shift  days  and  should  treat 
work  on  them  as  being  equivalent  to  work  in  the 
army.  We  should  speed  to  the  utmost  the  work  on 
the  cannon  and  flying  machines  so  that  our  army 
may  cease  having  to  rely  on  the  French  for  artillery 
.and  airplanes.  The  army  should  copy  the  wisdom 
of  the  navy  in  regard  to  the  Lewis  auto  rifle  and 
should  use  this  weapon  to  the  utmost  limit  now,  even 
although  it  prove  wise  later  to  supersede  it  with  the 
Browning  weapon. 

We  ought  at  once  to  introduce  obligatory  uni 
versal  military  training  for  our  young  men  between 
nineteen  and  twenty-one.  They  would  not  be  sent 
to  war  until  they  were  twenty-one.  This  would  be 
the  most  effective  step  in  preparing  to  get  ready  an 
army  of  five  million  men.  Such  an  army  would  be 
relatively  no  larger  than  the  four  hundred  thousand 


BOLSHEVIKI  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD     117 

men  which  gallant  Canada,  to  her  eternal  honor,  has 
already  raised.  Let  us  begin  now  to  prepare  our 
selves  for  a  three  years'  war. 

If  we  had  prepared  as  we  ought  to  have  done  dur 
ing  the  two  and  a  half  years  before  we  at  last  reluc 
tantly  faced  our  duty  and  went  to  war,  we  would 
have  put  a  couple  of  million  of  fighting  men  into 
Europe  last  June.  Russia  would  never  have  broken, 
and  in  all  probability  the  war  would  have  ended  at 
once  with  almost  no  fighting.  There  is  no  use  in 
crying  over  the  enormous  quantities  of  milk  we  have 
already  spilled,  unless  it  becomes  necessary  in  order 
to  prevent  us  from  continuing  to  spill  it  in  the 
present  and  future.  Failure  to  prepare  as  above  out 
lined  may  cause  us  as  much  trouble  in  the  future  as 
our  past  failure  to  prepare  has  already  caused  us. 
General  Pershing's  gallant  little  army  has  already 
made  the  entire  United  States  its  debtor.  But  it  is 
not  as  yet  as  important  a  military  factor  as  the  army 
of  Belgium  or  of  Portugal  or  of  Serbia.  Let  us  back 
it  up  and  equip  it  and  reenforce  it  to  the  utmost  of 
our  strength.  Let  us  quit  talking  peace  and  bend 
all  our  energies  to  winning  the  war,  and  thereby 
winning  the  only  kind  of  peace  that  will  be  safe, 
honorable,  and  lasting. 

BOLSHEVIKI  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 
MARCH  19,  1918 

THE  answer  of  the  Bolsheviki  to  the  President's 
message  was  an  example  of  mean  and  studied  im- 


ii8  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

pertinence.  There  was  no  gratitude,  no  apology  for 
their  betrayal  of  America  and  of  the  cause  of  liberty, 
and  no  expression  of  hostility  to  their  German 
masters,  but  there  was  a  gratuitous  and  insulting 
expression  for  a  class  war  in  America  against  what 
the  Bolsheviki  with  ignorant  folly  speak  of  as 
capitalism.  A  couple  of  days  afterward  the  Bol 
shevist  authorities  definitely  concluded  with  Ger 
many  their  peace  of  ignominy  and  treachery. 

There  is  now  no  possible  reason  for  our  Govern 
ment  to  draw  the  sharp  distinction  they  have  drawn 
between  the  Bolsheviki  abroad  and  the  Bolsheviki 
at  home.  The  Government  is  prosecuting  Victor 
Berger  and  has  suppressed  the  paper  of  Max  East 
man.  But  Berger  and  Eastman  are  essentially  the 
same  as  Lenine  and  Trotzky.  All  four  have  played 
Germany's  game;  all  four  have  been  the  enemies  of 
the  cause  of  the  United  States  and  of  liberty.  The 
utter  ruin  which  the  Bolsheviki  have  brought  on 
Russia  offers  an  illuminating  example  of  the  destruc 
tion  which  would  befall  the  United  States  if  it  ever 
submitted  to  the  leadership  of  men  like  Messrs. 
Hillquit,  Townley,  Haywood,  and  Berger. 

We  have  had  many  evil  capitalists  in  the  United 
States,  but  on  the  whole  the  worst  capitalists  could 
not  do  the  permanent  damage  to  the  farmers  and 
working-men  in  America  which  these  foreign  and 
native  Bolsheviki  would  do  if  they  had  the  power. 
Our  people  should  keep  steadily  in  mind  that  the 
Russian  Bolsheviki  have  not  attacked  the  big  Rus 
sian  capitalists  who  were  in  alliance  with  the  autoc- 


BOLSHEVIKI  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD     119 

racy  of  the  Romanoffs  and  they  have  been  the  tools, 
paid  or  unpaid,  of  the  German  militarists  and  capi 
talists.  They  have  spent  their  energies  in  attacking 
the  revolutionists  who  overthrew  the  Romanoffs  and 
in  persecuting  the  peasants  who  have  become  small 
farmers  and  the  working-men  who  are  skilled  me 
chanics  and  the  small  shopkeepers.  They  hate  and 
envy  those  thrifty  and  self-respecting  workers  who 
in  this  country  make  up  the  great  majority  of  our 
people  and  who  are  our  most  typical  and  character 
istic  Americans. 

The  Bolsheviki  have  concluded  a  peace  with 
Germany  which  includes  handing  back  to  the  Turks, 
or,  in  other  words,  plunging  back  into  brutal  sav 
agery,  a  district  in  Asia  in  which  there  are  multitudes 
of  Armenians  and  other  Christians.  Our  Govern 
ment  has  been  derelict  in  its  duty  to  the  Armenians, 
to  the  Christians  of  Syria  and  to  the  Jews  of  Pales 
tine,  by  its  failure  to  declare  war  on  Turkey.  It  is  a 
grave  error  to  coddle  the  Bolsheviki  and  support 
them  in  any  way  against  our  allies  unless  we  are 
also  willing  fearlessly  to  condemn  their  betrayal  of 
us  and  of  the  Allied  cause,  and  unless  we  are  ready 
to  war  to  the  end  against  both  Germany  and  Turkey 
in  order  to  rescue  from  tyranny  and  to  give  inde 
pendence  to  the  unfortunate  people  whom  the  Bol 
sheviki  have  abandoned  to  a  cruel  fate. 


120  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

THE  FRUITS  OF  OUR  DELAY 

MARCH  26,  1918 

THE  shameful  betrayal  of  the  Allies'  cause  by  the 
Russian  Bolshevists  and  the  delay  and  incompetence 
of  the  American  Government  have  given  the  Ger 
mans  a  free  hand  for  their  drive  against  the  British 
army.  England  is  at  this  moment  fighting  our 
battles  just  as  much  as  she  is  fighting  her  own,  yet, 
although  three  years  have  passed  since  the  Lusitania 
was  sunk  and  a  year  since  Congress  declared  that  we 
had  "  formally  "  entered  the  war,  America  is  still 
-  merely  an  onlooker. 

We  owe  this  ignoble  position  to  the  folly  and  the 
procrastination  of  our  Government  and  its  inveter 
ate  tendency  to  substitute  rhetoric  for  action.  We 
have  a  gallant  little  army  across  the  ocean,  but  it  is 
smaller  than  the  Belgian  army.  We  are  not  holding 
a  greater  extent  of  the  battle  front  than  the  army  of 
little  Portugal.  We  have  at  the  front  no  airplanes 
or  field  artillery  and  very  few  machine  guns  except 
those  we  have  gotten  from  the  French.  Even  the 
clothes  of  our  troops  are  mainly  obtained  from  the 
English.  Yet  we  are  the  richest  nation  and  one  of  the 
most  populous  nations  on  the  earth. 

Our  Government  is  responsible  for  our  dreadful 
shortcomings,  but  the  responsibility  is  shared  by  all 
the  foolish  creatures  who  have  willfully  blinded 
themselves  to  these  shortcomings  and  have  clamored 
against  the  faithful  public  servants,  like  Senator 


THE  FRUITS  OF  OUR  DELAY  121 

Chamberlain,  who  laid  bare  the  shortcomings  for  the 
purpose  of  remedying  them.  The  truly  patriotic  men 
in  this  crisis  have  been  the  men  who  have  fearlessly 
told  the  truth  in  order  to  speed  up  the  war.  The 
other  men  who  have  decried  the  truth-telling  as 
"  crying  over  spilt  milk  "  have  been  profoundly  un 
patriotic.  It  was  the  failure  to  point  out  how  much 
milk  had  been  spilt  which  was  primarily  responsible 
for  the  failure  to  stop  further  spilling  of  milk. 

In  the  face  of  the  terrible  battle  which  our  English 
allies  are  now  waging,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
for  three  years  and  a  half  we  have  owed  our  safety  to 
the  British  fleet  and  to  the  French  spirit  typified  by 
Premier  Clemenceau,  let  the  American  people  now 
demand  that  the  Government  recognize  the  need  of 
instant  and  efficient  action.  Let  our  Government 
quit  flirting  with  the  Bolshevists  at  home  and 
abroad.  Let  it  declare  war  on  Turkey  at  once.  Let 
it  acknowledge  its  dreadful  failures  and  delays  and 
henceforth  act  with  all  possible  speed.  Let  it  man 
fully  endeavor  to  make  our  weight  felt  in  the  war 
this  year.  Let  it  stop  boasting  about  the  future  and 
begin  to  act  in  the  present. 

Let  the  Government  use  common  sense.  It  has 
talked  magnificently  about  having  twenty  thousand 
airplanes  ready  in  June,  but  it  has  not  one  American 
war  plane  at  the  front  to-day.  Let  it  quit  boasting 
and  act.  Let  it  push  the  shipping  programme  by 
night  and  day.  Let  it  give  France  and  England  the 
men  they  so  sorely  need. 

Our  Government  has  delayed  until  the  Allies  have 


122  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

been  brought  to  the  brink  of  destruction.   Let  it  act 
at  once  lest  the  chance  for  action  pass  completely  by. 


HOW  THE  HUN  EARNS  HIS  TITLE 

MARCH  31,  1918 

THE  CURSE  OF  THE  SYSTEM 
BY  D.  THOMAS  CURTIN 

i 

A  SCENE  in  Schabatz,  when  the  Austro-Hungarians  attempted 
to  flank  Belgrade  in  early  August,  1914,  has  seared  itself  into 
my  memory.  I  was  in  the  shambles  of  an  overgrown  village. 
The  blood  of  both  armies  flowed  in  the  streets  and  the  wine 
from  broken  casks  and  bottles  flowed  in  the  cellars,  soldiers 
walking  in  it  up  to  their  knees. 

The  street  was  deserted  save  for  an  Unteroffizier  who  was 
passing.  An  old  woman,  bent  and  shriveled,  her  white  locks 
escaping  the  yellow  sash  around  her  head,  tottered  from  a 
whitewashed  mixture  of  mud  and  thatch,  saw  the  enemy 
soldier,  started  back,  thought  better  of  it,  and  sank  to  her 
knees  while  she  extended  her  bony  arms  for  mercy.  He  drew 
his  saber  —  still  a  relic  of  war.  "  A  little  despicable  stage 
play  and  magnanimous  pardon,"  I  thought.  I  was  mistaken. 
The  saber  whistled  and  slashed  the  outstretched  arms,  the 
woman's  shriek  cut  me  like  saws  and  knives,  and  I  turned 
away  bewildered. 

I  came  face  to  face  with  the  man  a  few  minutes  later.  He 
was  not  drunk.  Nor  did  he  look  like  a  wild  man  from  the  hills. 
He  was  a  Viennese,  the  kind  of  man  I  had  seen  on  scores  of 
occasions  lolling  in  a  caf6,  mild  and  gentle  as  a  kitten.  He 
looked  mild  and  gentle  now. 

"Why  did  you  do  it?  "  I  had  to  ask. 

"  She  was  a  pig-dog  Serb,  an  enemy  of  my  country.  I 
did  my  duty."  And  he  said  it  in  a  manner  which  showed  him 
satisfied  in  his  conscience  that  he  had  done  what  was  right. 

I  realize  now  that  I  had  had  my  first  war-time  example  of 
the  German  system  of  education.  The  code  is  that  anything 


HOW  THE  HUN  EARNS  HIS  TITLE     123 

done  in  the  name  of  the  Fatherland  is  correct.  A  man  can  be 
educated  in  such  a  manner  that  he  will  wipe  out  "  crawling 
verminous  pests  of  his  country  "  with  as  little  compunction 
as  a  farmer  would  rid  his  field  of  potato  bugs. 

II 

On  Thanksgiving  Day,  1914,  I  visited  the  American 
Hospital  in  Munich,  a  military  hospital  supported  by  contri 
butions  from  the  United  States.  While  talking  with  three 
men  in  one  room  I  was  actually  saying  to  myself  that  such  as 
these  could  not  be  guilty  of  atrocities,  when  one  of  them  told 
me  a  story  which  forced  me  to  change  my  mind. 

"  I  was  a  member  of  a  relief  company  marching  in  the 
Vosges,"  he  said.  "  As  we  were  about  to  halt  for  lunch,  we 
came  upon  a  French  priest  in  a  wood  who  was  judged  quickly 
to  be  a  spy  by  our  officers.  These  turned  him  over  to  us  and 
we  had  great  amusement  after  we  had  finished  eating.  I  laugh 
still  whenever  I  think  of  it.  We  tied  a  rope  around  his  neck 
and  threw  it  over  a  limb  of  a  tree.  Some  comrades  pulled 
and  up  went  the  priest  while  the  rest  of  us  stood  around  and 
jabbed  him  with  our  bayonets.  '  Higher,  higher!  '  we  shouted. 
And  then  we  had  a  jumping  contest  to  see  which  could  thrust 
his  bayonet  highest." 

The  man  told  me  the  story  because  he  thought  it  funny 
and  his  eyes  danced  with  happy  recollections  as  he  told  it. 

NO  GUNS 

General  Petain,  commander,  French  army,  said:  "  Send  guns;  so  that 
some  of  us  may  be  alive  to  fight  by  your  side,  when  at  last  America  is  ready." 

What!  in  France  and  no  guns! 
Have  I  sent  forth  my  sons 
With  proud  boasts  of  great  deeds  — 
And  fallen  down  at  plain  needs? 
Who  proclaimed  to  the  world 
With  my  banners  unfurled 
The  dread  foe  will  succumb, 
I,  America,  come! 

In  France,  and  no  guns! 
And  I  've  sent  forth  my  sons 


124  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

With  those  wolves  of  the  Huns  at  their  throats, 
While  the  Kaiser  and  Hindenburg  gloat, 
And  France,  stricken  France, 
Fills  the  breach,  while  my  lance 
I  sent  flaming  with  pride 
Hangs  behind,  not  beside! 

In  France!  and  no  guns, 

Empty  hands,  and  my  sons 

Who  would  tear  out  their  hearts  for  my  fame, 

Are  held  up  to  derision  and  shame, 

Because  statesmen  so  small 

Hew  out  roads  to  a  wall 

While  the  fire  bells  of  death 

Crash  souls  out,  and  breath ' 

In  France,  and  no  guns! 

Why,  you  're  worse  than  the  Huns, 

You  men  who  are  shaming  my  honor 

When  the  stress  of  the  Nation 's  upon  her. 

With  your  quibbles  and  greed 

Can  the  trampled  be  freed? 

Oh,  my  heart 's  sick  with  scorn, 

I,  America,  suborned. 

In  France,  and  no  guns ! 

Let's  forever  be  done 

With  our  boasts  and  our  brags,  and  succumb 

To  the  scorning  before  which  we're  dumb. 

When  at  last  France  is  free 

And  her  glory  acclaimed 

Let  none  look  at  me, 

At  America,  shamed. 

Henrietta  Keith,  Minneapolis 

WE  live  such  sheltered  lives  here,  three  thousand 
miles  away  from  the  war,  that  most  of  us  don't  even 
yet  realize  what  Germany  has  done  and  has  stood 


HOW  THE  HUN  EARNS  HIS  TITLE      125 

for  in  this  war  and  what  a  terrible  menace  she  is  to 
us  and  to  all  civilization.  The  other  day  I  met  a  very 
able  writer  and  observer  who  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Great  War  spent  many  months  with  the  German  and 
Austrian  armies  and  then  lived  in  Germany  until  it 
became  impossible  for  a  self-respecting  American 
longer  to  stay  there.  He  is  Mr.  D.  Thomas  Curtin. 
His  father  was  born  in  Ireland.  He  is  himself  a 
Catholic.  I  mention  these  facts  merely  because  they 
refute  the  cheap  and  vicious  falsehoods  so  often  pro 
mulgated  by  the  pro-Germans  to  the  effect  that  the 
accounts  of  the  German  atrocities  are  due  to  English 
propaganda. 

I  ask  all  good  Americans,  whatever  their  creed, 
and  I  especially  ask  American  women,  to  read  these 
two  straight-forward  statements  by  Mr.  Curtin,  the 
account  of  the  killing  by  torture  of  the  priest  who 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  German  soldiers  and  the 
account  of  the  fearful  brutality  of  an  Austrian  Ger 
man  to  a  poor  old  woman.  These  were  not  isolated 
cases  of  brutality.  They  were  both  part  of  the  policy 
of  deliberate  horror,  which  Mr.  Curtin  speaks  of  as 
"  the  system."  All  in  America  who  have  played  the 
game  of  Germany,  from  Hearst  and  the  Germanized 
Socialists  and  the  German-American  Alliance  at  one 
end  of  the  line  to  foolish  pacifist  preachers  at  the 
other  end  of  the  line,  have  been,  according  to  their 
power,  working  to  bring  about  the  day  when  we 
here  in  this  country  would  see  our  own  women  and 
helpless  non-combatant  men  and  our  own  children 
exposed  to  such  hideous  wrongs  and  torture  as  is 


126  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

described  by  Mr.  Curtin.  I  very  seriously  ask  our 
people  to  read  what  Mr.  Curtin  says  and  to  ponder 
the  full  meaning  of  the  facts  he  sets  forth. 

In  the  next  place,  I  ask  them  to  read  the  poem  — 
and  it  is  a  real  poem,  not  merely  verse  —  of  Mrs. 
Keith,  a  Minneapolis  woman,  called  "  No  Guns." 
Well-meaning,  foolish  people,  and  some  people  who 
in  ordinary  relations  of  life  are  not  foolish,  are  fond 
of  telling  us  not  to  point  out  the  defects  in  the  army, 
because  this  encourages  Germany,  and  because  any 
how  it  is  a  case  of  spilt  milk,  and  there  is  no  use  of 
crying  over  spilt  milk.  The  answer  is  twofold.  In 
the  first  place,  Germany  knows  all  our  shortcomings. 
Inasmuch  as  we  have  wickedly  refused  to  go  to  war 
with  Turkey  and  Bulgaria,  we  have  left  open  ave 
nues  by  which  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  Germany 
gets  full  knowledge  of  everything  she  wishes  to  know 
about  this  country.  It  is  only  our  own  people  who 
are  kept  in  ignorance.  *  In  the  next  place,  as  regards 
the  spilt-milk  proposition,  the  trouble  is  that  we 
have  kept  on  spilling  the  milk  and  that  only  by 
pointing  out  that  it  has  been  spilled  is  it  possible  to 
solder  the  milk  cans  and  stop  further  spilling.  Until 
Senator  Chamberlain  and  his  committee  boldly  and 
truthfully  pointed  out  the  evil  caused  by  the  delays 
and  shortcomings  of  the  War  Department,  the  Ad 
ministration  made  not  the  slightest  effort  to  remedy 
them.  Some  of  the  more  salient  of  these  shortcom 
ings  have  been  remedied,  and  this  fact  is  primarily 
due  to  the  courage  and  patriotism  of  these  public 
servants,  Senator  Chamberlain  and  his  committee. 


HOW  THE  HUN  EARNS  HIS  TITLE     127 

If  fourteen  months  ago  our  people  had  been  willing 
to  demand  the  truth  and  to  listen  to  those  who  told 
the  truth,  we  would  at  this  moment  have  four  times 
the  force  we  now  have  in  France ;  and  we  would  have 
guns  and  airplanes,  and  auto  rifles  of  our  own  make 
with  it;  and  we  would  have  had  plenty  of  ships  to 
carry  our  men  across  and  to  give  them  food  and 
munitions.  The  reason  why  our  fighting  army  at  the 
front  in  France  is  no  larger,  and  the  reason  why  we 
have  had  to  get  the  necessary  field  guns,  airplanes, 
and  auto  rifles  for  that  army  from  the  French,  is  be 
cause  we,  as  a  people,  were  not  willing  to  insist  upon 
knowing  the  truth.  It  is  precisely  because  certain 
men  are  now  telling  the  truth  that  there  is  reason  to 
hope  that  gradually  the  milk  spilling  will  be  stopped ; 
that  gradually  we  shall  get  the  guns,  the  airplanes, 
and  auto  rifles  for  our  men,  and  above  all  the  ships 
that  are  vitally  necessary.  I  ask  the  mothers  of  this 
country  whose  sons  are  now  in  the  army,  or  may  go 
into  the  army,  to  read  and  ponder  this  poem  by  a 
woman,  and  to  cast  the  weight  of  their  great  influ 
ence  in  favor  of  demanding  that  every  ounce  of 
energy  we  as  a  Nation  possess  be  used  to  speed  up 
the  war,  to  relieve  our  allies  of  the  burden  of  supply 
ing  us  with  weapons  of  war,  and  to  see  that  the 
American  troops  abroad  are  furnished  from  this 
country  with  American-made  weapons  of  the  highest 
type. 

The  don't-cry-over-spilt-milk  appeal  represents 
unpardonable  wrong  to  America  and  to  civilization. 


128  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 


THANK  HEAVEN! 
APRIL  2,  1918 

AT  last,  thank  Heaven,  comes  the  news  that  our 
little  American  army  at  the  front  has  been  put  ab 
solutely  at  the  disposal  of  the  French  and  English 
military  leaders  for  use  of  any  kind  in  the  gigantic 
and  terrible  battle  now  being  waged.  All  Americans 
who  are  proud  of  the  great  name  of  America  will 
humbly  and  reverently  thank  Heaven  that  at  any 
rate  the  army  we  have  at  the  front  is  not  to  remain  in 
the  position  of  an  onlooker,  but  is  to  be  put  into  the 
battle. 

The  wanton  and  cruel  bombardment  of  Paris, 
undertaken  for  no  military  reason  and  with  its  char 
acteristic  slaughter  of  women  and  children  in  a 
church,  proves  that  the  German  barbarity  is  as  de 
liberate  and  as  infamous  now  as  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war.  The  Allies  in  this  battle  are  fighting  for 
humanity  and  civilization.  They  are  fighting  the 
battle  of  the  United  States.  Any  man  in  the  United 
States  who  at  this  time  directly  or  indirectly  ex 
presses  approval  of  or  sympathy  with  Germany  in 
this  battle  or  in  this  war,  should  be  arrested  and 
either  shot,  hung,  or  imprisoned  for  life,  according 
to  the  gravity  of  his  offense. 

Thank  Heaven  that  our  sons  and  brothers  are 
now  to  stand  at  Armageddon.  Thank  Heaven  that 
American  soldiers  are  now  to  fight  in  the  great  battle 
against  the  bestial  foe  of  America  and  of  mankind. 


CITIZENS  OR  SUBJECTS?  129 

Words  count  for  little  at  this  time  and  for  nothing 
whatever  except  in  so  far  as  they  are  of  help  to  the 
men  of  deeds  who  are  at  the  front. 

It  is  these  men  at  the  front  who  are  now  mak 
ing  all  Americans,  born  and  unborn,  forever  their 
debtors.  They  are  the  men  who  have  paid  with 
their  bodies  for  their  soul's  desire.  Let  no  one  pity 
them,  whatever  their  fate,  for  they  have  seen  the 
mighty  days  and  have  risen  level  to  the  need  of  che 
mighty  days.  And  let  no  one  pity  the  wives  and 
mothers  and  fathers  whose  husbands  and  lovers  and 
sons  now  face  death  in  battle  for  the  mightiest  of 
all  high  causes.  Our  hearts  are  wrung  with  sorrow 
and  anxiety,  but  our  heads  are  held  aloft  with  pride. 
It  is  a  terrible  thing  that  our  loved  ones  should  face 
the  great  danger,  but  it  would  be  a  far  more  terrible 
thing  if,  whatever  the  danger,  they  were  not  treading 
the  hard  path  of  duty  and  honor. 


CITIZENS  OR  SUBJECTS? 

APRIL  6,  1918 

IN  a  self-governing  country  the  people  are  called 
citizens.  Under  a  despotism  or  autocracy  the  people 
are  called  subjects.  This  is  because  in  a  free  country 
the  people  are  themselves  sovereign,  while  in  a  des 
potic  country  the  people  are  under  a  sovereign.  In 
the  United  States  the  people  are  all  citizens,  includ 
ing  its  President.  The  rest  of  them  are  fellow  citizens 
of  the  President.  In  Germany  the  people  are  all 


130  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

subjects  of  the  Kaiser.  They  are  not  his  fellow  citi 
zens,  they  are  his  subjects.  This  is  the  essential 
difference  between  the  United  States  and  Germany, 
but  the  difference  would  vanish  if  we  now  submitted 
to  the  foolish  or  traitorous  persons  who  endeavor  to 
make  it  a  crime  to  tell  the  truth  about  the  Adminis 
tration  when  the  Administration  is  guilty  of  incom 
petence  or  other  shortcomings.  Such  endeavor  is 
itself  a  crime  against  the  Nation.  Those  who  take 
such  an  attitude  are  guilty  of  moral  treason  of  a  kind 
both  abject  and  dangerous. 

Our  loyalty  is  due  entirely  to  the  United  States. 
It  is  due  to  the  President  only  and  exactly  to  the 
degree  in  which  he  efficiently  serves  the  United 
States.  It  is  our  duty  to  support  him  when  he  serves 
the  United  States  well.  It  is  our  duty  to  oppose  him 
when  he  serves  it  badly.  This  is  true  about  Mr.  Wil 
son  now  and  it  has  been  true  about  all  our  presidents 
in  the  past.  It  is  our  duty  at  all  times  to  tell  the 
truth  about  the  President  and  about  every  one  else, 
save  in  the  cases  where  to  tell  the  truth  at  the  mo 
ment  would  benefit  the  public  enemy.  Since  this 
war  began,  the  suppression  of  the  truth  by  and  about 
the  Administration  has  been  habitual.  In  rare  cases 
this  has  been  disadvantageous  to  the  enemy.  In  the 
vast  majority  of  cases  it  has  been  advantageous  to 
the  enemy,  detrimental  to  the  American  people,  and 
useful  to  the  Administration  only  from  the  political, 
not  the  patriotic,  standpoint. 

The  Senate  Judiciary  Committee  has  just  rec 
ommended  the  passage  of  a  law  in  which,  among 


CITIZENS  OR  SUBJECTS?  131 

many  excellent  propositions  to  put  down  disloyalty, 
there  has  been  adroitly  inserted  a  provision  that  any 
one  who  uses  "  contemptuous  or  slurring  language 
about  the  President  "  shall  be  punished  by  imprison 
ment  for  a  long  term  of  years  and  by  a  fine  of  many 
thousand  dollars.  This  proposed  law  is  sheer  treason 
to  the  United  States.  Under  its  terms  Abraham 
Lincoln  would  have  been  sent  to  prison  for  what  he 
repeatedly  said  of  Presidents  Polk,  Pierce,  and  Bu 
chanan.  Under  its  terms  President  Wilson  would  be 
free  to  speak  of  Senator-elect  Lenroot  as  he  has 
spoken,  but  Senator  Lenroot  would  not  be  free 
truthfully  to  answer  President  Wilson.  It  is  a  pro 
posal  to  make  Americans  subjects  instead  of  citizens, 
It  is  a  proposal  to  put  the  President  in  the  position 
of  the  Hohenzollerns  and  Romanoffs.  Government 
by  the  people  means  that  the  people  have  the  right 
to  do  their  own  thinking  and  to  do  their  own  speak 
ing  about  their  public  servants.  They  must  speak 
truthfully  and  they  must  not  be  disloyal  to  the 
country,  and  it  is  their  highest  duty  by  truthful 
criticism  to  make  and  keep  the  public  servants  loyal 
to  the  country. 

Any  truthful  criticism  could  and  would  be  held 
by  partisanship  to  be  slurring  or  contemptuous.  The 
Delaware  House  of  Representatives  has  just  shown 
this.  It  came  within  one  vote  of  passing  a  resolution 
demanding  that  the  Department  of  Justice  proceed 
against  me  because,  in  my  recent  speeches  in  Maine, 
I  "  severely  criticized  the  conduct  of  our  National 
Government.*'  I  defy  any  human  being  to  point 


132  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

out  a  statement  in  that  speech  which  was  not  true 
and  which  was  not  patriotic,  and  yet  the  decent  and 
patriotic  members  of  the  Delaware  legislature  were 
only  able  to  secure  a  majority  of  one  against  the  base 
and  servile  partisanship  of  those  who  upheld  the 
resolution. 

I  believe  the  proposed  law  is  unconstitutional. 
If  it  is  passed,  I  shall  certainly  give  the  Government 
the  opportunity  to  test  its  constitutionality.  For 
whenever  the  need  arises  I  shall  in  the  future  speak 
truthfully  of  the  President  in  praise  or  in  blame, 
exactly  as  I  have  done  in  the  past.  When  the  Presi 
dent  in  the  past  uttered  his  statements  about  being 
too  proud  to  fight  and  wishing  peace  without  victory, 
and  considering  that  we  had  no  special  grievance 
against  Germany,  I  spoke  of  him  as  it  was  my  high 
duty  to  speak.  Therefore,  I  spoke  of  him  truthfully 
and  severely,  and  I  cared  nothing  whether  or  not 
timid  and  unpatriotic  and  short-sighted  men  said 
that  I  spoke  slurringly  or  contemptuously.  In  as  far 
as  the  President  in  the  future  endeavors  to  wage  this 
war  efficiently  and  to  secure  the  peace  of  overwhelm 
ing  victory,  I  shall  heartily  support  him.  But  if  he 
wages  it  inefficiently  or  if  he  should  now  champion  a 
peace  without  victory,  or  say  that  we  had  no  griev 
ance  against  Germany,  I  would  speak  in  criticism 
of  him  precisely  as  I  have  spoken  in  the  past.  I  am 
an  American  and  a  free  man.  My  loyalty  is  due  to 
the  United  States,  and  therefore  it  is  due  to  the  Pres 
ident,  the  Senators,  the  Congressmen,  and  all  other 
public  servants  only  and  to  the  degree  in  which  they 
loyally  and  efficiently  serve  the  United  States. 


WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR  133 


WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 

APRIL  12,  1918 

A  KANSAS  woman  has  just  written  me  in  part  as 
follows:  "  I  have  given  my  all,  my  two  sons,  gladly 
and  proudly,  as  volunteers  to  my  country,  for  they 
enlisted  last  August.  But  my  heart  grows  sick  at 
the  confusion  and  blunders  and  apathy.  I  thank  The 
Star  for  printing  that  poem  of  the  Minnesota 
mother.  It  appeals  to  all  of  us  mothers  who  stay  at 
home  and  pray  and  work  as  we  can.'* 

I  think  more  continually  of  such  mothers  of 
soldiers  as  this  Kansas  woman,  than  I  do  even  of  the 
soldiers  themselves.  They  have  high  and  gallant 
souls.  They  are  the  spiritual  heirs  of  the  mothers 
and  wives  of  Washington's  Continentals  and  of  the 
mothers  and  wives  of  the  soldiers  of  Grant  and  Lee. 
I  am  proud  beyond  measure  that  I  am  their  fellow 
countryman.  In  everything  that  I  do  or  say,  I  seek 
to  make  and  to  keep  this  land  a  land  in  which  their 
daughters  can  dwell  in  honorable  safety  and  to  make 
our  common  citizenship  such  that  both  their  sons 
and  daughters  shall  hold  their  heads  high  because 
they  are  Americans. 

But  exactly  as  I  revere  such  women,  so  I  condemn 
the  women  whose  short-sightedness  or  frivolous  love 
of  ease  and  vapid  pleasure  or  whose  timid  fear  of 
danger  and  labor  makes  them  fit  companions  for 
those  unworthy  men  whose  lives  represent  merely 
the  shirking  of  duty.  The  mother  who,  by  perpetual 


134  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

complaint  and  lamentation  about  unavoidable  hard 
ships  and  risks,  seeks  to  weaken  the  heart  of  her 
soldier  son  stands  no  higher  than  the  money-getting 
or  ease-loving  man  who  dodges  the  draft.  The 
woman  who  cares  so  little  for  the  honor  of  America 
and  the  interests  of  civilization  as  now  to  wish  a 
peace  without  victory  is  no  better  than  the  men  in 
uniform  who  seek  soft  positions  of  safety  among  the 
slickers  and  slackers. 

The  things  that  are  best  worth  having  in  life  must 
be  paid  for  whether  by  forethought  or  by  toil  or  by 
downright  facing  of  danger.  This  is  true  in  peace. 
It  is  even  more  true  in  war.  It  is  just  as  true  of 
women  as  of  men. 

All  wise  and  good  women  and  all  wise  and  good 
men  abhor  war.  Washington  and  Lincoln  abhorred 
war.  But  no  man  or  woman  is  either  wise  or  good 
unless  he  or  she  abhors  some  things  even  more  than 
war,  exactly  as  Washington  and  Lincoln  abhorred 
them.  We  are  none  of  us  fit  to  be  free  men  in  a  re 
public  if  we  are  not  willing  to  fight  when  the  Re 
public  is  wronged  as  Germany  has  wronged  this 
country.  We  are  none  of  us  entitled  to  say  that  we 
love  mankind  if  we  are  not  willing  to  do  battle 
against  the  Turk  and  the  German  in  order  to  right 
such  wrongs  as  have  been  perpetrated  on  Belgium 
and  Armenia.  And  we  deserve  to  be  brayed  in  a 
mortar  if  we  are  ever  again  guilty  of  such  folly  as 
that  of  which  we  have  been  guilty  by  our  foolish 
failure  to  prepare  our  strength  in  efficient  fashion 
during  the  last  three  and  a  half  years. 


TO  AMERICANS  OF  GERMAN  BLOOD    135 

The  women  of  this  country  who  love  their  hus 
bands  and  sons  should  realize  now  that  only  by 
thorough  preparedness  in  advance  can  war  be 
avoided,  if  possible,  or  successfully  waged  if  it  has  to 
come.  Recently  men  in  high  position  whose  own 
bodies  are  safe  have  stated  that  they  are  glad  that 
we  were  not  prepared  in  advance  to  do  our  duty 
when  this  war  came.  These  men  have  purchased 
their  own  safety  and  advantage  by  the  blood  of  our 
sons  at  the  front.  Let  the  women  who  do  not  wish 
to  see  their  men  go  up  against  the  cannon  see  that 
hereafter  all  our  sons  are  well  trained  in  advance. 
If  America's  strength  is  fully  prepared  in  advance, 
she  will  in  all  probability  never  have  to  go  to  war 
and  will  be  a  potent  factor  in  preserving  the  peace 
of  justice  throughout  the  world,  and  the  first  step 
in  securing  such  a  peace  is  to  devote  all  our  energies 
to  speeding  up  the  war  until  it  is  ended  by  the  com 
plete  triumph  of  our  allies  and  ourselves. 

TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS  OF 

GERMAN  BLOOD 

APRIL  16,  1918 

HERMANN  HAGEDORN,  an  American  whose  father 
and  mother  were  born  in  Germany,  an  American  of 
the  best  and  bravest  and  most  loyal  type,  has  just 
written  a  little  book  called  "  Where  Do  You  Stand? 
An  Appeal  to  Americans  of  German  Origin."  I  wish 
it  could  be  read  by  every  individual  of  those  to  whom 
it  is  addressed,  and  by  all  other  Americans  also. 


136  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

I  am,  myself,  partly  of  German  blood,  and  I  make 
my  appeal  as  an  American  does,  to  and  on  behalf  of 
all  other  Americans  who  have  German  blood  in  their 
veins.  We  have  room  in  this  country  only  for  Amer 
icans  who  are  Americans,  and  nothing  else.  They 
must  be  loyal  to  only  one  flag;  they  must  speak  one 
language;  they  must  serve  only  American  ideals.  I 
mean  literally  what  I  say,  that  every  man  who  bears 
even  the  smallest  allegiance  to  any  other  country 
should  be  sent  out  of  this  country.  The  native 
American  who,  during  this  war,  directly  or  in 
directly,  assails  any  of  our  allies,  notably  England, 
but  also  Japan,  is  a  traitor  to  America  and  should  be 
promptly  imprisoned.  The  German- American,  and 
especially  the  German-American  editor,  guilty  of 
such  conduct  or  of  any  exaltation  of  any  German 
victory  should  be  instantly  interned  and  then  sent 
back  to  Germany.  The  Sinn  Feiner  who  attacks 
England  should  be  immediately  interned  and  then 
sent  back  to  Ireland.  The  German-American  Alli 
ance  and  all  similar  organizations  should  immedi 
ately  be  broken  up  by  Congress  and  by  the  state 
legislatures.  Our  people  would  do  well  to  remember 
that  even  when  such  organizations  keep  quiet  for 
the  moment,  they  are  certain  to  revive  and  to  work 
against  America  with  the  utmost  malignity  when 
peace  comes.  The  time  to  crush  them  is  now.  Foreign 
language  newspapers  should  be  required  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  New  York  Herold  and  begin 
the  change,  which  is  to  convert  their  newspapers 
into  English,  the  language  of  the  United  States. 


TO  AMERICANS  OF  GERMAN  BLOOD   137 

As  for  spies,  preachers  of  sedition,  men  who  prac 
tice  sabotage,  and  all  other  such  persons,  the 
Government  already  has  much  power,  but  should 
be  given  any  needed  additional  power  to  proceed 
against  them,  and  this  power  should  be  used  in 
drastic  fashion,  if  necessary  under  martial  law,  and 
after  a  summary  trial  the  guilty  men  should  be  shot. 

So  much  for  the  men  of  German  blood,  or  of  any 
other  blood,  who  are  not  good  Americans;  but  re 
member  that  it  is  also  our  highest  duty  from  the 
standpoint  of  Americanism  to  stand  by  the  good 
American  of  German  blood,  just  exactly  as  we  stand 
by  any  other  American.  We  must  refuse  to  permit 
any  division  along  the  lines  of  blood  or  ancestry.  We 
must  demand  whole-hearted  Americanism,  and  if  a 
man  gives  this,  we  must  treat  him  exactly  on  his 
merits,  like  any  other  American.  In  other  words,  we 
must  give  every  man  a  square  deal.  Shoot  the  spy  or 
the  traitor,  whether  of  native  American,  Irish,  or 
German  blood;  whether  a  Protestant,  Catholic,  or 
Jew.  Stand  by  the  good  American  of  any  creed,  no 
matter  where  he  was  born  or  whence  his  parents 
came. 

It  is  an  outrage  to  discriminate  against  a  good 
American  in  civil  life  because  he  is  of  German  blood. 
It  is  an  even  worse  outrage  for  the  Government  to 
permit  such  discrimination  against  him  in  the  army 
or  in  any  of  the  organizations  working  under  govern 
ment  supervision.  Let  us  insist  on  the  immediate 
stopping  of  such  discriminations,  which  cruelly 
wound  good  Americans  and  tend  to  drive  them  back 


138  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

into  the  ranks  of  the  half-loyal.  In  return  let  good 
Americans  of  German  blood  band  together  and  take 
the  lead  in  organization  action  against  all  disloyal 
or  half-loyal  citizens  of  German  blood  and  against 
all  German  language  or  English  language  newspa 
pers  which  are  not  whole-heartedly  loyal  and  against 
all  such  organizations  as  the  German-American 
Alliance. 


AN  EXTRAORDINARY  ACHIEVEMENT 

IN  HUMAN  UPBUILDING 

APRIL  17,  1918 

MAJOR  E.  C.  SIMMONS,  of  St.  Louis,  the  manager  of 
the  Southwestern  Division  of  the  American  Red 
Cross,  has  just  returned  from  our  army  in  France. 
He  relates  a  really  extraordinary  achievement  of  the 
division  of  orthopaedic  surgery  with  the  army  under 
the  direction  of  Surgeon-Major  Joel  E.  Goldthwaite. 

All  the  divisions  of  troops  sent  across,  of  course, 
contain  a  number  of  men  who  show  physical  short 
comings  under  the  strain  of  actual  campaigning.  In 
General  Edwards's  division  these  men  numbered  in 
the  neighborhood  of  fifteen  per  cent,  not  an  unusual 
proportion  in  the  history  of  past  wars.  Dr.  Gold 
thwaite  got  permission  to  try  his  hand  on  the  treat 
ment  of  a  body  composed  of  somewhat  over  five 
hundred  of  them,  and  instantly  began  vigorous  but 
careful  work  to  build  up  all  their  physical  defects. 

As  his  work  for  each  man  was  finished,  he  was  put 


AN  EXTRAORDINARY  ACHIEVEMENT    139 

in  one  of  four  classes.  Class  A  included  those  to 
whom  the  training  gave  such  vigor  that  they  were 
fit  to  go  right  to  the  front  as  battle  units.  Class  B 
included  those  who  could  be  made  fit  for  hard  physi 
cal  labor  back  of  the  front,  although  not  for  the 
tremendous  strain  of  the  trenches.  Class  C  included 
those  fitted  for  clerical  and  similar  duties.  Class  D 
included  those  whose  physical  condition  would  not 
be  improved  and  who  had  to  be  sent  home. 

Dr.  Goldthwaite  was  able  to  place  over  eighty  per 
cent  of  the  men  in  Class  A,  and  all  the  remainder  in 
either  Class  B  or  Class  C.  Not  a  man  had  to  be  sent 
home.  Remember  that  the  physical  shortcomings  of 
these  men  were  all  present  before  they  entered  the 
army  and  were  not  acquired  in  the  army.  The  work 
done  for  them  made  them  not  only  fit  to  be  soldiers, 
but  fit  to  be  citizens.  Moreover,  it  affected  them 
morally  exactly  as  much  as  physically.  They  had 
become  utterly  dispirited  and  downcast.  After  Dr. 
Goldthwaite  was  through  with  them,  they  were  all 
self-reliant,  energetic  Americans,  vigorous,  upstand 
ing,  and  self-respecting,  having  lost  all  trace  of 
either  moral  or  physical  crooked  back  and  stooping 
shoulders. 

When  we  get  universal  obligatory  military  train 
ing  for  all  our  young  men,  this  is  what  will  happen 
everywhere  and  the  benefit  to  our  people  will  be 
incalculable.  Such  training  will  minimize  the  chance 
of  our  ever  having  to  go  to  war  and  will  render  it 
certain  that  hereafter  we  shall  always  be  able  to  de 
fend  ourselves  instead  of  trusting  to  our  allies  to 


140  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

defend  us.  Moreover,  it  will  do  us  even  more  good 
as  regards  the  tasks  of  peace  than  as  regards  the 
tasks  of  war,  for  it  will  turn  out  every  young  man  far 
better  able  to  earn  his  living  and  far  better  fitted  to 
be  a  good  citizen. 


FREEDOM  STANDS  WITH  HER  BACK 
TO  THE  WALL 

APRIL  20,  1918 

THIS  is  a  terrible  hour  of  trial  and  suffering  and 
danger  for  our  war-worn  allies,  who  in  France  are 
battling  for  us  no  less  than  for  themselves.  If  shame 
is  even  more  dreadful  than  suffering,  then  it  is  a  no 
less  terrible  hour  for  our  own  country.  Our  allies 
stand  with  their  backs  to  the  wall  in  the  fight  for 
freedom,  and  America  looks  on.  The  free  nations 
stand  at  bay  in  the  cause  that  is  ours  no  less  than 
theirs;  and  after  over  a  year  of  war  the  army  we 
have  sent  to  their  aid  is  smaller  than  that  of  poor 
heroic,  ruined  Belgium,  is  hardly  more  than  a 
twentieth  the  size  which  gallant  and  impoverished 
Italy  has  in  the  field.  And  this  great  wealthy  Nation 
of  ours  has  not  yet  furnished  to  our  own  brave  troops 
in  the  field  any  cannon  or  airplanes,  and  almost  no 
machine  guns,  save  those  which  we  have  obtained 
from  hard-pressed  France  —  and  let  our  people 
remember  that  every  gun  thus  made  for  us  by  hard- 
pressed  France  is  a  gun  left  unmade  for  hard-pressed 
Italy. 


FREEDOM  WITH  BACK  TO  THE  WALL    141 

Our  few  gallant  fighting  men  overseas  have  won 
high  honor  for  themselves,  and  have  made  all  other 
Americans  forever  their  debtors;  but  it  is  a  scandal 
and  a  reproach  to  this  Nation  that  they  are  so  few. 
If  in  this  mighty  battle  our  allies  win,  it  will  be  due 
to  no  real  aid  of  ours;  and  if  they  should  fail,  black 
infamy  would  be  our  portion  because  of  the  delay 
and  the  folly  and  the  weakness  and  the  cold,  time 
serving  timidity  of  our  Government,  to  which  this 
failure  would  be  primarily  due.  If  those  responsible 
for  our  failure,  if  those  responsible  for  the  refusal  to 
prepare  during  the  two  and  a  half  years  in  which  we 
were  vouchsafed  such  warning  as  never  nation  pre 
viously  received,  if  those  responsible  for  the  sluggish 
feebleness  with  which  we  have  acted  since  we  help 
lessly  drifted  into  the  war  —  if  these  men  now  re 
pented  of  the  cruel  wrong  they  have  done  this  Na 
tion  and  mankind,  we  could  afford  to  wrap  their 
past  folly  and  evil-doing  in  the  kindly  mantle  of 
oblivion.  But  they  boast  of  their  foolishness,  they 
excuse  and  justify  it,  they  announce  that  they  feel 
pride  and  delight  in  contemplating  it.  Therefore, 
it  is  for  us,  the  people,  to  bow  our  heads  on  this  our 
penitential  day;  for  we  are  laggards  in  the  battle, 
we  have  let  others  fight  in  our  quarrel,  we  have  let 
others  pay  with  their  shattered  bodies  for  the  fire  in 
their  burning  souls. 

The  trumpets  of  the  Lord  sounded  for  Armaged 
don;  but  our  hearts  were  not  swift  to  answer  nor 
our  feet  jubilant;  coldly  we  watched  others  die  that 
we  might  live.  Our  rulers  were  supple  and  adroit, 


142  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

but  they  were  not  mighty  of  soul.  They  have  shown 
that  they  will  not  lead  us,  and  will  ever  stand  in 
front  only  if  we  force  them  forward.  Therefore,  the 
reason  is  all  the  greater  why  we,  the  American 
people,  must  search  our  own  hearts  and  with  un 
flinching  will  insist  that  from  now  on  not  a  day,  not 
an  hour,  shall  be  wasted  until  our  giant  but  soft  and 
lazy  strength  is  hardened,  until  we  ourselves  take 
the  burden  from  the  shoulders  of  others,  until  we  pay 
whatever  price  our  past  shortcomings  demand,  and 
with  heads  uplifted  and  spirit  undaunted  stride 
forward  to  the  great  goal  of  the  peace  of  victorious 
right. 

A  SQUARE  DEAL  FOR  ALL  AMERICANS 
APRIL  27,  1918 

THERE  is  no  room  in  this  country  for  the  man  who 
tries  to  be  both  an  American  and  something  else. 
There  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  fifty-fifty  loyalty 
between  America  and  Germany.  Either  a  man  is 
whole-hearted  in  his  support  of  America  and  her 
allies,  and  in  his  hostility  to  Germany  and  her  allies, 
or  he  is  not  loyal  to  America  at  all.  In  such  case  he 
should  be  at  once  interned  or  sent  out  of  the  country. 
But  if  he  is  whole-hearted  in  his  loyal  support  of 
America,  then  no  matter  what  his  birthplace  or 
parentage  he  is  entitled  to  stand  on  a  full  and  exact 
equality  with  every  other  American. 

Therefore  the  obligation  is  twofold,  and  one  side 
is  just  as  important  as  the  other.    Every  American 


A  SQUARE  DEAL  FOR  ALL  AMERICANS    143 

of  German  birth  or  parentage  must  act  as  an  Ameri 
can  and  nothing  else,  and  if  he  does  not  so  act  he 
should  be  treated  as  an  alien  enemy.  But  if  he  acts 
exactly  as  other  good  Americans  act,  then  it  is  a 
shame  and  a  disgrace  not  to  treat  him  absolutely 
like  these  other  good  Americans.  The  immense 
majority  of  Americans  who  are  in  whole  or  in  part  of 
German  blood  are  as  stanch  Americans  as  are  to  be 
found  in  the  land.  They  are  serving  in  our  armies 
precisely  as  other  Americans  serve.  They  are  ex 
actly  as  fit  as  any  other  American  to  fill  the  highest 
positions  anywhere  in  our  armies  or  in  civil  life. 
Any  discrimination  against  them,  active  or  passive, 
military  or  political,  social  or  industrial,  is  an  in 
tolerable  outrage.  Moreover,  such  a  discrimination 
is  itself  profoundly  anti-American  in  its  effects,  for 
it  not  only  cruelly  wounds  brave  and  upright  and 
loyal  Americans,  but  tends  to  drive  them  back 
into  segregation,  away  from  the  mass  of  American 
citizenship. 

America  is  a  Nation  and  not  a  mosaic  of  nation 
alities.  The  various  nationalities  that  come  here  are 
not  to  remain  separate,  but  to  blend  into  the  one 
American  nationality — the  nationality  of  Washing 
ton  and  Lincoln,  of  Muhlenberg  and  Sheridan.  There 
fore,  we  must  have  but  one  language,  the  English 
language.  Every  immigrant  who  comes  here  should 
be  required  within  five  years  to  learn  English  or  to 
leave  the  country,  for  hereafter  every  immigrant 
should  be  treated  as  a  future  fellow  citizen  and  not 
merely  as  a  labor  unit.  English  should  be  the  only 


144  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

language  taught  or  used  in  the  primary  schools.  We 
should  provide  by  law  so  that  after  a  reasonable 
interval  every  newspaper  in  this  country  should  be 
published  in  English. 

A  square  deal  for  all  Americans  means  relentless 
attack  on  all  men  in  this  country  who  are  not 
straight-out  Americans  and  nothing  else.  It  just  as 
emphatically  means  to  stand  by  every  good  Ameri 
can  of  German  blood  exactly  as  much  as  by  every 
other  good  American.  In  every  loyalty  organization 
a  special  effort  should  be  made  to  see  that  in  the 
leadership  and  in  the  ranks  the  Americans  of  German 
blood  come  in  on  precisely  the  same  basis  as  every 
one  else.  And  the  straight-out  Americans,  in  whole 
or  in  part  of  German  blood,  should  themselves  insist 
on  this,  not  as  a  favor  which  they  request,  but  as  a 
right  which  they  demand,  a  right  predicated  on  their 
fervid  and  militant  Americanism.  I  wish  we  could 
see  such  an  organization  formed,  an  uncompromis 
ingly  straight-out  American  organization,  including 
Americans  of  all  our  different  blood  strains,  but  with 
as  large  a  proportion  of  Americans  in  whole  or  in 
part  of  German  blood  as  possible,  and  then  let  this 
organization  take  the  lead  in  aggressively  loyal 
Americanism,  in  the  demand  to  fight  this  war  with 
all  speed  and  efficiency,  until  it  is  crowned  by  the 
peace  of  complete  victory  and  in  the  purpose  to 
make  this  peace  mark  the  glorious  rebirth,  the  puri 
fication  and  the  giant  growth  of  the  American  spirit 
—  the  spirit  of  an  intense  and  unified  American 
nationalism. 


THE  GERMAN  HORROR  145 

We  Americans  must  be  loyal  first  to  our  own 
Nation  and  to  our  own  national  ideals,  and  we  must 
develop  to  the  utmost  the  virile  hardihood  of  body, 
mind,  and  soul  without  which  there  can  be  no  real 
greatness.  And  our  devotion  to  America  shall  in 
part  show  itself  in  the  unswerving  effort  to  make 
this  great  democratic  Republic  both  strong  for  self- 
defense  and  strong  for  wise  and  brotherly  help  to 
other  nations,  to  make  it  both  the  leader  and  the 
servant  of  all  mankind. 


THE  GERMAN  HORROR 
MAY  2,  1918 

THE  Hague  conferences  laid  down  a  number  of  rules 
which  the  signatory  powers,  including  Germany, 
agreed  to  observe  in  order  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of 
war.  Germany  has  with  equal  cynicism  and  brutal 
ity  violated  every  one  of  these  rules.  She  has  waged 
war  as  it  was  waged  in  the  Dark  Ages.  She  has 
shown  revolting  cruelty  toward  soldiers  and  espe 
cially  toward  non-combatants,  including  women  and 
children. 

At  this  moment  a  great  cannon  is  bombarding 
Paris.  Not  a  soldier  has  been  killed  by  it ;  it  has  not 
in  the  smallest  degree  affected  France's  military 
power,  nor  was  it  intended  to  do  so.  It  was  intended 
to  terrorize  the  French  civilian  population  by  the 
destruction  of  churches,  hospitals,  and  private  build 
ings  and  the  murder  of  women  and  children.  On 


146  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Good  Friday  one  of  the  shells  wrecked  a  church  and 
killed  a  number  of  the  little  choir  boys  and  a  number 
of  women  who  were  at  prayer.  Among  the  killed 
were  three  American  women  whom  I  knew,  who 
were  abroad  working  for  our  soldiers.  An  American 
friend  who  saw  the  horror  writes  me: 

Evidently  the  Germans  do  not  worry  over  the  fact  that 
their  shells  descend  on  women  and  children  kneeling  in  prayer 
on  a  Good  Friday,  before  the  crucifix. 

Another  American  friend,  a  Red  Cross  woman, 
writes: 

One  shell  burst  in  a  maternity  hospital,  killing  a  nurse,  a 
young  mother,  and  a  little  baby.  Several  other  mothers  and 
new-born  babies  were  injured. 

The  Zeppelins  and  airplanes  are  continually 
bombarding  undefended  English  and  French  cities 
and  have  killed  women  and  children  by  the  hun 
dreds.  The  submarines  have  waged  war  with  callous 
mercilessness.  Their  crews  have  continually  prac 
ticed  torture  on  the  prisoners  they  have  taken. 
They  leave  women  and  children  to  drown.  They 
shoot  into  the  lifeboats.  At  this  moment  Americans 
are  dying  from  the  poison  gas  which  the  Germans, 
in  contemptuous  defiance  of  The  Hague  rules,  have 
made  an  ordinary  weapon  of  war.  I  have  just  been 
talking  with  an  American  soldier  absolutely  trust 
worthy,  who  himself  saw  the  body  of  a  Canadian 
whom  the  Germans  had  just  crucified. 

Every  violation  of  the  laws  of  war  has  been 
practiced  by  Germany.  By  her  outrages  on  human 
ity  she  has  made  herself  an  outlaw  among  nations, 


SEDITION  147 

and  unless  she  pays  heavily  for  her  crimes,  the  whole 
world  will  be  in  danger.  It  is  Germany,  and  only 
Germany,  who  is  responsible  for  the  hideous  atroci 
ties  that  have  marked  this  war,  atrocities  which  all 
civilized  men  outside  of  Germany  believed  to  have 
been  eliminated  forever  from  civilized  warfare. 
Germany  has  habitually  and  as  a  matter  of  policy 
practiced  the  torture  of  men,  the  rape  of  women,  and 
the  killing  of  children. 

It  was  deeply  to  our  discredit  that  during  the 
shameful  years  of  our  neutrality  we  refused  to  pro 
test  against  these  hideous  atrocities.  Now  at  last 
this  Nation  has  awakened  and  has  gone  to  war 
against  the  enemy  of  America  and  of  mankind.  Let 
our  people  now  keep  steadily  in  mind  just  what  kind 
of  a  foe  we  are  fighting  and  just  what  kind  of  infamy 
that  foe  is  habitually  practicing.  Then  let  us  resolve 
that,  come  what  may,  we  will  fight  this  war  through 
to  a  finish  until  the  authors  of  this  hideous  infamy 
have  paid  in  full  and  have  been  punished  as  they 
deserve.  For  in  no  other  way  can  a  peace  worth 
having  be  obtained. 


SEDITION,  A  FREE  PRESS,  AND 
PERSONAL  RULE 

MAY  7,  1918 

THE  legislation  now  being  enacted  by  Congress 
should  deal  drastically  with  sedition.  It  should  also 
guarantee  the  right  of  the  press  and  people  to  speak 


148  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

the  truth  freely  of  all  their  public  servants,  including 
the  President,  and  to  criticize  them  in  the  severest 
terms  of  truth  whenever  they  come  short  in  their 
public  duty.  Finally,  Congress  should  grant  the 
Executive  the  amplest  powers  to  act  as  an  executive 
and  should  hold  him  to  stern  accountability  for 
failure  so  to  act,  but  it  should  itself  do  the  actual 
lawmaking  and  should  clearly  define  the  lines  and 
limits  of  action  and  should  retain  and  use  the  fullest 
powers  of  investigation  into  and  supervision  over 
such  action.  Sedition  is  a  form  of  treason.  It  is  an 
offense  against  the  country,  not  against  the  Presi 
dent.  At  this  time  to  oppose  the  draft  or  sending 
our  armies  to  Europe,  to  uphold  Germany,  to  attack 
our  allies,  to  oppose  raising  the  money  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  war  are  at  least  forms  of  sedition,  while 
to  act  as  a  German  spy  or  to  encourage  German 
spies  to  use  money  or  intrigue  in  the  corrupt  service 
of  Germany,  to  tamper  with  our  war  manufactures 
and  to  encourage  our  soldiers  to  desert  or  to  fail  in 
their  duty,  and  all  similar  actions  are  forms  of  un 
doubtedly  illegal  sedition.  For  some  of  these  offenses 
death  should  be  summarily  inflicted.  For  all  the 
punishment  should  be  severe. 

The  Administration  has  been  gravely  remiss  in 
dealing  with  such  acts. 

Free  speech,  exercised  both  individually  and 
through  a  free  press,  is  a  necessity  in  any  country 
where  the  people  are  themselves  free.  Our  Govern 
ment  is  the  servant  of  the  people,  whereas  in  Ger 
many  it  is  the  master  of  the  people.  This  is  because 


SEDITION  149 

the  American  people  are  free  and  the  German  are 
not  free.  The  President  is  merely  the  most  im 
portant  among  a  large  number  of  public  servants. 
He  should  be  supported  or  opposed  exactly  to  the 
degree  which  is  warranted  by  his  good  conduct  or 
bad  conduct,  his  efficiency  or  inefficiency  in  render 
ing  loyal,  able,  and  disinterested  service  to  the  Na 
tion  as  a  whole.  Therefore  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  there  should  be  full  liberty  to  tell  the  truth 
about  his  acts,  and  this  means  that  it  is  exactly 
necessary  to  blame  him  when  he  does  wrong  as  to 
praise  him  when  he  does  right.  Any  other  attitude 
in  an  American  citizen  is  both  base  and  servile.  To 
announce  that  there  must  be  no  criticism  of  the 
President,  or  that  we  are  to  stand  by  the  President, 
right  or  wrong,  is  not  only  unpatriotic  and  servile, 
but  is  morally  treasonable  to  the  American  public. 
Nothing  but  the  truth  should  be  spoken  about  him 
or  any  one  else.  But  it  is  even  more  important  to 
tell  the  truth,  pleasant  or  unpleasant,  about  him 
than  about  any  one  else. 

During  the  last  year  the  Administration  has 
shown  itself  anxious  to  punish  the  newspapers  which 
uphold  the  war,  but  which  told  the  truth  about  the 
Administration's  failure  to  conduct  the  war  effi 
ciently,  whereas  it  has  failed  to  proceed  against 
various  powerful  newspapers  which  opposed  the  war 
or  attacked  our  allies  or  directly  or  indirectly  aided 
Germany  against  this  country,  as  these  papers  up 
held  the  Administration  and  defended  the  ineffi 
ciency.  Therefore,  no  additional  power  should  be 


150  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

given  the  Administration  to  deal  with  papers  for 
criticizing  the  Administration.  And,  moreover,  Con 
gress  should  closely  scrutinize  the  way  the  Post 
master-General  and  Attorney-General  have  already 
exercised  discrimination  between  the  papers  they 
prosecuted  and  the  papers  they  failed  to  prosecute. 
Congress  should  give  the  President  full  power  for 
efficient  executive  action.  It  should  not  abrogate 
its  own  power.  It  should  define  how  he  is  to  reorgan 
ize  the  Administration.  It  should  say  how  large  an 
army  we  are  to  have  and  not  leave  the  decision  to 
the  amiable  Secretary  of  War,  who  has  for  two  years 
shown  such  inefficiency.  It  should  declare  for  an 
army  of  five  million  men  and  inform  the  Secretary 
that  it  would  give  him  more  the  minute  he  asks  for 
more. 


THE  DANGERS  OF  A  PREMATURE  PEACE 
MAY  12,  1918 

As  now  seems  likely,  if  the  great  German  drive  fails, 
it  is  at  least  possible  that,  directly  or  indirectly,  the 
Germans  will  then  start  a  peace  drive.  In  such  case 
they  will  probably  endeavor  to  make  such  seeming 
concessions  as  to  put  a  premium  upon  pacifist  agita 
tion  for  peace  in  the  free  countries  of  the  West 
against  which  they  are  fighting.  To  yield  to  such 
peace  proposals  would  be  fraught  with  the  greatest 
danger  to  the  Allies,  and  especially  to  our  own 
country  in  the  future. 


DANGERS  OF  A  PREMATURE  PEACE    151 

Let  us  never  forget  that  no  promise  Germany 
makes  can  be  trusted.  The  kultur  developed  under 
the  Hohenzollerns  rests  upon  shameless  treachery 
and  duplicity  no  less  than  upon  ruthless  violence  and 
barbarity. 

For  example,  there  are  strong  indications  that 
Germany  may  be  prepared,  if  she  now  fails  on  the 
western  front,  to  abandon  all  that  for  which  she  has 
fought  on  her  western  front,  provided  that  in  Middle 
Europe  and  in  the  East  there  is  no  interference  with 
her.  In  other  words,  she  would  be  prepared  to  give 
back  Alsace  and  Lorraine  to  France,  to  give  Italian 
Austria  to  Italy,  to  give  Luxemburg  to  Belgium,  and 
to  let  the  Allies  keep  the  colonies  they  have  con 
quered,  on  condition  that  her  dominance  in  Russia 
and  in  the  Balkans,  her  dominance  of  the  subject 
peoples  of  Austria  through  the  Austrian  Hapsburgs, 
and  her  dominance  of  Western  Asia  through  her 
vassal  state,  Turkey,  should  be  left  undisturbed.  To 
the  average  American,  and  probably  to  the  average 
Englishman  and  Frenchman,  there  is  much  that  is 
alluring  in  such  a  programme.  It  might  be  urged  as  a 
method  of  stopping  the  frightful  slaughter  of  war, 
while  securing  every  purpose  for  which  the  free 
peoples  who  still  fight  are  fighting.  Yet  it  would  be 
infinitely  better  that  this  war  were  carried  on  to  the 
point  of  exhaustion  than  that  we  yield  to  such  terms. 

Such  terms  would  mean  the  definite  establishment 
of  Germany's  military  ascendancy  on  a  scale  never 
hitherto  approached  in  the  civilized  world.  It  would 
mean  that  perhaps  within  a  dozen  years,  certainly 


152  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

within  the  lifetime  of  the  very  men  now  fighting  this 
war,  this  country  and  the  other  free  countries  would 
have  to  choose  between  bowing  their  necks  to  the 
German  yoke  or  else  going  into  another  war  under 
conditions  far  more  disadvantageous  to  them. 

A  premature  and  inconclusive  peace  now  would 
spell  ruin  for  the  world,  just  as  in  1864  a  premature 
and  inconclusive  peace  would  have  spelled  ruin  to 
the  United  States,  and  in  the  present  instance  the 
United  States  would  share  the  ruin  of  the  rest  of  the 
free  peoples  of  mankind. 

On  the  face  of  it  Germany  would  not  become  a 
giant  empire.  Just  exactly  as  on  the  face  of  it  at 
present  Germany,  Austria,  Turkey,  and  Bulgaria 
call  themselves  simply  four  allied  nations,  standing 
on  equal  terms.  But  in  reality  those  four  powers  are 
merely  Germany  and  her  three  vassal  states,  whose 
military  and  economic  and  political  powers  are  all 
disposed  of  by  the  Hohenzollerns.  A  peace  such  as 
that  above  outlined  would  leave  these  as  really  one 
huge  empire.  The  population  of  these  four  countries, 
plus  the  populations  of  Russian  regions  recently 
annexed  by  Germany,  is  over  two  hundred  millions. 
This  population  would  be  directed  and  dominated  by 
the  able,  powerful,  and  utterly  brutal  and  unscrupu 
lous  German  governing  class,  which  the  very  fact  of 
the  peace  would  put  in  the  saddle,  and  the  huge 
empire  thus  dominated  and  directed  would  become 
a  greater  menace  to  the  free  peoples  than  anything 
known  for  the  last  thousand  years. 

Short-sighted   people  will  say  that  this  power 


DANGERS  OF  A  PREMATURE  PEACE    153 

would  only  menace  Asia,  and  therefore  that  we  need 
feel  no  concern  about  it.  There  could  be  no  error 
greater  or  more  lamentable.  Twenty  years  hence  by 
mere  mass  and  growth  Germany  would  dominate 
the  Western  European  powers  that  have  now  fought 
her.  This  would  mean  that  the  United  States  would 
be  left  as  her  victim. 

In  the  first  place,  she  would  at  once  trample  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  under  foot,  and  treat  tropical  and 
south  temperate  America  as  her  fields  for  exploita 
tion,  domination,  and  conquest.  In  the  next  place, 
she  would  surely  trample  this  country  under  foot 
and  bleed  us  white,  doing  to  us  on  a  gigantic  scale 
what  she  has  done  to  Belgium.  If  such  a  peace  as  is 
above  described  were  at  this  time  made,  the  United 
States  could  by  no  possibility  escape  the  fate  of 
Belgium  and  of  the  Russian  territories  taken  by  Ger 
many  unless  we  ourselves  became  a  powerful  mili 
tarist  state  with  every  democratic  principle  sub 
ordinated  to  the  one  necessity  of  turning  this  Nation 
into  a  huge  armed  camp  —  I  do  not  mean  an  armed 
nation,  as  Switzerland  is  armed,  and  as  I  believe 
this  country  ought  to  be  armed.  I  mean  a  nation 
whose  sons,  every  one  of  them,  would  have  to  serve 
from  three  to  five  years  in  the  army,  and  whose 
whole  activities,  external  and  internal,  would  be 
conditioned  by  the  one  fact  of  the  necessity  of  mak 
ing  head,  single-handed,  against  Germany. 

I  very  strongly  believe  that  never  again  should 
we  be  caught  unprepared  as  we  have  been  caught 
unprepared  this  time.  I  believe  that  all  our  young 


154  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

men  should  be  trained  to  arms  as  the  Swiss  are 
trained.  But  I  would  regard  it  as  an  unspeakable 
calamity  for  this  Nation  to  have  to  turn  its  whole 
energies  into  the  kind  of  exaggerated  militarism 
which  under  such  circumstances  would  alone  avail 
for  self-defense. 

The  military  power  of  Germany  must  be  brought 
low.  The  subject  nations  of  Austria,  the  Balkans, 
and  Western  Asia  must  be  freed.  We  ought  not  to 
refrain  an  hour  longer  from  going  to  war  with 
Turkey  and  Bulgaria.  They  are  part  of  Germany's 
military  strength.  They  represent  some  of  the  most 
cruel  tyrannies  over  subject  peoples  for  which  Ger 
many  stands.  It  is  idle  for  us  to  pretend  sympathy 
with  the  Armenians  unless  we  war  on  Turkey, 
which,  with  Germany's  assent,  has  well-nigh  crushed 
the  Armenians  out  of  existence. 

When  President  Wilson  stated  that  this  war  was 
waged  to  make  democracy  safe  throughout  the 
world,  he  properly  and  definitely  committed  the 
American  people  to  the  principles  above  enunciated, 
and  for  the  American  people  to  accept  less  than  their 
President  has  thus  announced  that  he  would  insist 
upon  would  be  unworthy.  The  President  has  also 
said  that  "there  is  therefore  but  one  response  possi 
ble  for  us.  Force — force  to  the  utmost — force  with 
out  stint  or  limit  —  the  righteous  and  triumphant 
force  which  shall  make  right  the  law  of  the  world 
and  cast  every  selfish  dominion  down  in  the  dust." 

The  American  people  must  support  President 
Wilson  unflinchingly  in  the  stand  to  which  he  is  thus 


THE  WAR  SAVINGS  CAMPAIGN         155 

committed  and  must  resolutely  refuse  to  accept  any 
other  position.  We  must  guard  against  any  slacken 
ing  of  effort.  We  must  refuse  to  accept  any  pre 
mature  peace  or  any  peace  other  than  the  peace  of 
overwhelming  victory. 

We  must  secure  such  complete  freedom  for  the 
peoples  of  Central  Europe  and  Western  Asia  as  will 
shatter  forever  the  threat  of  German  world  domina 
tion.  Our  honorable  obligations  to  our  allies,  our 
loyalty  to  our  own  national  principles,  the  need  to 
protect  our  American  neighbors,  the  need  to  defend 
our  own  land  and  people,  and  our  hopes  for  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  our  children's  children  all  forbid  us 
to  accept  an  ignoble  and  inconclusive  peace. 


THE  WAR  SAVINGS  CAMPAIGN 

MAY  27,  1918 

OF  course  the  primary  factor  in  deciding  this  war  is 
and  will  be  the  army.  But  there  can  be  no  great 
army  in  war  to-day  unless  a  great  nation  stands  back 
of  it.  The  most  important  of  all  our  needs  is  im 
mensely  to  strengthen  the  fighting  line  at  the  front. 
But  it  cannot  be  permanently  strengthened  unless 
the  whole  Nation  is  organized  back  of  the  front.  We 
need  increased  production  by  all.  We  need  thrift 
and  the  avoidance  of  extravagance  and  of  waste  of 
money  upon  non-essentials  by  all.  We  need  the  in 
vestment  of  our  money  in  government  securities  by 
all  of  us. 


156        -     ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

The  Government,  through  the  War  Savings 
paign,  offers  the  opportunity  to  every  individual  in 
the  Nation  to  join  in  a  great  national  movement  to 
secure  these  ends.  The  Treasury  Department  pro 
poses  as  a  means  to  achieve  these  ends  that  all  our 
people  form  themselves  into  Thrift  clubs  or  War 
Savings  societies.  This  is  the  people's  war.  The 
responsibility  for  the  Government  rests  on  the  people 
as  a  whole.  The  army  is  the  people's  army.  It  can 
be  supported  only  if  the  people  invest  in  the  securi 
ties  of  the  Government.  And  this  investment  by  the 
people  should  be  as  nearly  universal  as  possible.  All 
the  men  and  the  women  and  half  the  children  of  the 
land  should  be  active  members  of  Uncle  Sam's  team. 
The  War  Savings  campaign  offers  them  the  chance 
to  be  active  members.  This  campaign  means  the 
encouragement  of  thrift  and  production.  But  it 
means  much  more  than  this.  It  also  means  to  make 
our  people  realize  their  solidarity  and  mutual  inter 
dependence  and  to  make  them  understand  that  the 
Government  is  really  theirs.  Therefore  it  is  a  move 
ment  for  genuine  Americanization  of  all  our  people. 
It  is  a  movement  to  fuse  all  our  different  race  stocks 
into  one  great  unified  nationality.  It  is  emphatically 
a  movement  for  nationalism  and  patriotism. 

Between  thirty  and  forty  millions  of  our  people 
to-day  own  Liberty  bonds  or  War  Savings  Stamps. 
All  of  us  who  come  in  this  class  have  an  increased 
sense  of  loyalty  and  responsibility  to  the  Govern 
ment.  The  Treasury  Department  has  offered 
through  the  War  Savings  plan  a  great  opportunity 


THE  WAR  SAVINGS  CAMPAIGN         157 

for  the  entire  Nation  to  group  itself  into  War  Savings 
societies  or  Thrift  clubs  and  thus  be  of  immediate 
and  direct  service  to  the  Government.  Neither 
through  government  programme  and  traditions  nor 
through  the  habits  of  the  people  were  we  in  any  way 
prepared  for  this  struggle.  We  were  a  spendthrift 
Nation.  One  of  the  roads  to  national  unity  and 
national  force  in  this  war  is  through  thrift,  using 
the  word  to  include  both  increased  production  in 
every  field  and  also  the  conservation  of  those  things 
which  are  so  desperately  needed  for  the  winning  of 
the  war.  The  conscientious  thrifty  man  to-day  will 
conserve  food  as  requested  by  the  Food  Administra 
tion.  He  will  conserve  fuel  as  requested  by  the  Fuel 
Administration.  And  he  will  conserve  to  the  best 
of  his  ability  the  labor  and  materials  which  the  Gov 
ernment  needs  by  not  using  his  money  for  purchas 
ing  any  of  the  non-essentials  and  thereby  using  up 
materials  and  labor  needed  by  the  Government.  He 
will,  by  purchasing  government  securities,  entrust 
the  spending  of  his  money  to  the  Government  in 
order  to  speed  up  the  war  and  to  secure  the  peace  of 
overwhelming  victory. 

Let  all  of  us  join  in  this  movement.  The  success 
of  the  War  Savings  campaign  means  an  immense 
addition  to  our  war  strength.  It  also  means  the  first 
step  in  economic  preparedness  for  what  is  to  come 
after  the  war.  We  must  never  return  to  our  hap 
hazard  spendthrift  ways.  Thrift  should  be  made  a 
national  habit  as  part  of  our  social  and  industrial 
readjustment. 


158  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

We  are  just  finishing  our  Red  Cross  campaign. 
Now  let  us  put  through  the  War  Savings  campaign. 


ANTI-BOLSHEVISM 
JUNE  5,  1918 

ON  the  whole  the  worst  fate  that  can  befall  any 
country  is  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Bolsheviki. 
Therefore,  we  should  visit  with  heavy  condemnation 
the  Romanoffs  of  politics  and  industry  who,  by 
Bourbon-like  inability  to  see  or  refusal  to  face  the 
future,  make  ready  the  way  for  Bolshevism.  Utter 
ruin  will  befall  this  country  if  it  falls  into  the  hands 
of  Haywoods  and  Townleys  and  of  the  politicians 
who  truckle  to  them,  but  the  surest  way  to  secure 
their  temporary  and  disastrous  triumph  is  to  refuse 
to  make  every  effort,  in  sane,  good-tempered,  reso 
lute  fashion,  to  deal  with  the  problems  which  affect 
unfavorably  the  welfare  of  the  farmer  and  the 
working-man. 

Mere  stolid  inaction,  mere  refusal  to  acknowledge 
the  existence  of  trouble  and  duty  to  remedy  it 
amounts  to  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  worst  and 
most  evil  agitators.  Such  an  attitude  on  the  part  of 
our  political  leaders  is  almost  as  bad  as  the  failure  to 
act  with  instant  readiness  and  full  strength  against 
disorder  or  as  the  time-serving  cowardice  which  bows 
to  and  flatters  the  leaders  of  disorder.  What  is 
needed  is  unhesitating  and  thoroughgoing  con 
demnation  of,  and  action  against,  the  anarchists  and 


ANTI-BOLSHEVISM  159 

inciters  to  sedition  and  to  class  envy  and  hatred,  and 
at  the  same  time  genuine  and  radical  effort  to  secure 
for  the  farmer  and  the  working-man  and  for  every 
one  else  the  square  deal  in  actual  fact.  Neither 
attitude  is  enough  by  itself;  the  two  must  go  to 
gether  if  results  of  lasting  worth  are  to  be  secured. 

The  leaders  in  such  movements  as  the  I.W.W.  in 
clude  a  large  proportion  of  men  whose  activities  are 
criminal,  and  who,  as  regards  civilization  and  all 
that  makes  life  worth  living  for  decent,  hard-working 
men  and  women,  stand  merely  as  human  beasts  of 
prey.  But  very  many  of  these  fellows  are  not  bad 
men  at  all,  but  merely  unfortunates  who  turn  to 
an  evil  organization  because  no  good  organization 
offers  them  relief  or  concerns  itself  with  their  welfare. 
I  am  not  speaking  of  theory;  I  am  speaking  of  fact. 
I  know  of  cases  in  connection  with  the  forest  service 
where  government  officials,  by  acting  on  behalf  of 
maltreated  crews  of  lumber  companies  and  by  seeing 
that  they  got  justice  and  fair  treatment,  turned 
them  into  zealous,  right-feeling,  public-spirited 
citizens,  who,  for  instance,  worked  hard  and  dis 
interestedly  in  putting  out  forest  fires. 

It  is  idle  to  say  that  no  governmental  action  is 
needed  on  behalf  of  farmers  and  wage-workers.  Un 
questionably  such  action  will  merely  do  harm  unless 
at  the  same  time  the  interests  and  permanent  welfare 
of  the  business  men  of  the  country,  great  and  small, 
are  considered.  But  the  action  itself  is  necessary. 
It  should  be  based  on  the  theory  that  so  far  as  pos 
sible  the  work  of  betterment,  alike  as  regards  farmers, 


160  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

working-men,  and  business  men,  take  the  form  of 
cooperation  among  themselves,  with  the  maximum 
amount  of  individual  and  collective  private  effort, 
and  the  minimum  necessary  amount  of  govern 
mental  control  and  encouragement.  It  is  not  pos 
sible  to  state  empirically  in  advance  just  how  far  this 
governmental  control  and  encouragement  shall  go. 
This  must  be  determined  by  actual  experience  in 
settling  what  is  necessary  in  each  individual  set  of 
cases.  The  best  result  will  always  come  where  the 
organization  of  private  citizens  is  not  limited  to  any 
one  class,  but  include  farmers,  working-men,  busi 
ness  men;  just  as  is  true  of  one  such  great  organiza 
tion  in  the  State  of  Iowa;  just  as  is  true  of  a  smaller 
but  successful  organization  in  and  around  the  city 
of  Springfield,  Massachusetts;  just  as  is  preemi 
nently  true  of  many  of  the  state  councils  of  defense. 
There  must  be  sincere  purpose  to  push  forward  and 
remedy  wrong;  but  there  must  likewise  be  firm 
refusal  to  submit  to  the  leadership  of  either  the  crim 
inal  fringe  or  the  lunatic  fringe.  Class  hatred  is  a 
mighty  poor  substitute  for  American  brotherhood. 
If  we  are  wise  we  will  proceed  by  evolution  and  not 
revolution.  But  Bourbon  refusal  to  move  forward 
at  all  merely  invites  revolution. 

GENERAL  WOOD 
JUNE  15,  1918 

SENATOR  HIRAM  JOHNSON  has  rendered  many  nota 
ble  services  to  the  public,  and  among  them  is  his 


GENERAL  WOOD  161 

recent  speech  concerning  the  cruel  injustice  with 
which  Major- General  Leonard  Wood  has  been 
treated  and  the  very  grave  damage  thereby  done  the 
army  and  the  Allied  cause  at  this  critical  moment  of 
the  war. 

General  Wood's  entire  offense  consists  in  his  hav 
ing,  before  the  war,  continually  advocated  our  doing 
things  which  now  every  one  in  his  senses  admits 
ought  to  have  been  done.  Nine  tenths  of  wisdom 
consists  of  being  wise  in  time.  General  Wood  was 
wise  in  time.  Moreover,  by  twenty  years  of  hard, 
practical  work,  he  fitted  himself  to  do  peculiarly 
well  in  this  very  crisis.  He  was  our  senior  general 
in  rank,  he  was  recognized  by  the  best  French  and 
English  military  authorities  as  by  experience  trained 
to  play  an  immediate  and  important  part  in  the 
difficult  and  perilous  joint  work  of  the  war.  He  had 
testified  at  length  and  with  exhaustive  professional 
knowledge  before  the  congressional  military  com 
mittees,  one  year  and  two  years  prior  to  our  entry 
into  the  war,  pointing  out  all  the  military  lacks, 
which  experience  has  since  shown  to  exist  and  which 
the  War  Department  then  denied  existed.  He  is  to 
be  credited  with  the  only  piece  of  serious  military 
preparedness  in  advance  which  is  to  our  credit.  In 
the  service  of  1915,  in  the  teeth  of  indifference  and 
hostility  from  his  superiors,  he  created  the  Platts- 
burg  officers'  reserve  training  camp,  starting  the 
system  of  training  camps  which  has  enabled  us  to 
officer  our  draft  army. 

He  is  in  splendid  physical  condition.    Recently 


162  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

when  in  France  he  was  severely  wounded  by  a  shell 
burst,  and  the  surgeons  reported  his  recovery  as  be 
ing  more  rapid  than  would  have  been  the  case  with 
the  average  young  man  of  robust  bodily  health  and 
vigor.  He  has  done  excellent  work  in  training  his 
men  at  Camp  Funston.  He  has  been  unwearied  in 
looking  after  the  health  and  welfare  of  his  men.  He 
has  been  rewarded  by  their  loyal  devotion;  they 
have  been  profoundly  grieved  and  moved  by  having 
him  suddenly  taken  from  them.  The  refusal  to  use 
his  great  ability  and  energy  means  a  distinct  subtrac 
tion  from  the  sum  total  of  our  military  efficiency,  a 
distinct  addition  to  the  risk  from  disease  and  discom 
fort  which  some  of  our  men  at  the  front  will  have  to 
incur,  and  a  distinct  benefit  to  the  cause  of  Germany. 
No  explanation  has  been  given  the  American 
people  for  the  action  concerning  him.  Nothing  has 
been  made  public  which  warrants  our  belief  that  this 
action  was  due  either  to  professional  or  to  patriotic 
considerations. 


HELP  RUSSIA  NOW. 

JUNE  20,  1918 

RUSSIA  has  been  thrown  under  the  iron  tyranny  of 
German  militarism  and  capitalism  by  the  Bolshe 
vists  of  the  Lenine  type.  The  Russian  people  are 
slowly  awakening  to  this  bitter  truth.  The  far- 
sighted,  the  Russians  of  genuine  patriotism,  have 
long  been  awake,  but  the  peasants,  who  are  at  heart 


HELP  RUSSIA  NOW  163 

good,  but'  who  are  ignorant  and  misled,  are  now 
awakening  also.  Plenty  of  them,  especially  among 
the  Cossacks,  are  well  aware  that  submission  to 
Germany  now  means  death  for  Russia.  Plenty  of 
them  are  eager  to  fight  and  know  well  that  only  by 
successful  war  on  a  grand  scale  can  Russia  now  be 
saved  and  regenerated,  but  they  must  have  help  and 
the  help  must  be  given  immediately  or  it  may  be  too 
late,  and  America  can  best  give  the  help. 

A  Russian  peasant  woman  who  can  hardly  write 
her  name  is  here  to  ask  that  the  help  be  given  im 
mediately  and  that  it  be  given  in  Siberia.  She  is  a 
remarkable  character  in  her  strength,  her  simplic 
ity,  her  direct  straightforwardness,  and  her  intense 
earnestness  and  entire  disinterestedness.  She  was 
a  major  in  the  Russian  army  until  the  Russian  army 
was  betrayed  and  dissolved.  Her  peasant  husband 
was  killed  in  the  ranks.  She  served  in  the  ranks  of 
a  regiment  of  men.  She  commanded  in  a  regiment  of 
women.  She  has  been  wounded  four  times.  She 
was  born  in  Tomsk,  Siberia.  She  is  a  peasant  of  the 
best  class,  in  habits  of  thought  and  belief  and  life 
and  sympathy.  But  she  has  a  wide  outlook.  She 
knows  that  America  will  keep  her  word  about  Si 
beria,  just  as  America  kept  her  word  about  Cuba. 
She  asks  that  for  our  own  sake,  just  as  much  as  for 
Russia's  sake,  we  now  send  an  army  to  Siberia, 
entering  through  Vladivostok  or  Harbin,  or  through 
both.  She  asks  us  to  announce  that  after  the  war  is 
over  we  guarantee  to  return  to  Russia  her  country 
with  the  right  for  her  people  to  decide  for  them- 


1 64  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

selves  how  they  are  to  be  governed,  and  that  in  the 
war  we  fight  with  and  for  all  the  Russians  who  will 
fight  against  Germany  for  Russia,  and  that  we  fight 
to  the  death  against  the  Germans  and  against  all 
Russians  who  side  with  the  Germans. 

Siberia  is  in  chaos.  Eastern  Siberia  has  plenty 
of  food  and  contains  large  elements  of  the  popula 
tion,  especially  Cossacks,  who  would  promptly  join 
with  an  Allied  force  which  they  believed  would,  in 
good  faith,  aid  in  the  reconquest  of  Russia  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  it  back  to  the  Russians  themselves. 
West  of  Lake  Baikal  is  a  region  dominated  by  a 
German  army,  some  twenty  thousand  strong,  com 
posed  of  former  German  prisoners  of  war,  who 
are  organized  under  the  name  of  the  German  Red 
Guards  and  who  are  the  permanent  adherents  of 
German  autocracy,  but  who  help  the  cause  of 
Russian  anarchy  in  order  to  conquer  Russia  for  the 
German  autocracy.  West  of  these  again  a  stretch 
of  country,  which  includes  the  passes  of  the  Ural 
Mountains,  is  held  by  the  splendid  Czechs,  who,  by 
the  way,  must  at  the  end  of  this  war  be  rewarded  by 
seeing  an  independent  Czech-Slovak  commonwealth 
established,  just  as  there  must  also  be  a  great  Jugo 
slav  commonwealth. 

At  once  there  should  be  in  East  Siberia  an  Ameri 
can  army  of  say  thirty  thousand  men  with  a  Jap 
anese  army  of  the  same  size  and  a  British  imperial 
army  of  as  nearly  the  same  size  as  possible.  If  there 
was  difficulty  as  to  the  command  of  the  Allied  forces, 
borrow  some  man  of  great  reputation,  Joffre,  for 


HELP  RUSSIA  NOW  165 

instance,  from  France.  Let  the  woman  major  above 
spoken  of  and  other  Russian  friends  of  the  peasants 
and  of  a  Russian  republic  go  in  advance  to  make 
clear  that  the  Allied  army  comes  only  to  restore 
Russia  to  the  Russians.  Let  all  Russians  who  join 
be  paid  by  the  United  States  on  the  same  scale  as 
our  own  troops,  and  if  necessary  let  the  United 
States  guarantee  the  payment  of  the  Japanese. 
Move  against  the  German  Red  Guards  as  quickly 
as  possible  and  then  push  instantly  to  join  the  heroic 
Czechs  in  the  Urals.  Let  the  railroads  be  organized 
back  of  the  army  by  our  best  railroad  men  and  let 
them  carry  immediately  behind  the  army  immense 
quantities  of  clothing,  boots,  and  farm  machinery. 
Siberia  has  food  and  it  will  furnish  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  soldiers  who  will  rally  around  such  an 
Allied  army  as  a  nucleus.  Before  this  army  reached 
the  Urals,  the  Germans  would  have  to  prepare  to 
meet  it  and  their  pressure  on  the  Western  front 
would  thereby  be  relieved. 

Russia  is  at  this  moment  lost,  so  that  no  change  in 
Russia  can  make  things  worse  for  the  Allies  than 
they  now  are.  We  ought  to  have  acted  with  energy 
and  intelligence  on  her  behalf  a  year  ago.  Let  us  at 
least  act  now,  for  no  possible  action  can  be  worse 
than  our  inaction.  She  does  not  need  talk  and  en 
voys  to  study  the  situation.  She  needs  an  army  to 
serve  as  a  nucleus  around  which  she  can  create  her 
own  immense  armies.  The  above  plan  is  better  than 
none.  If  our  Government  can  devise  a  better,  let 
them  do  so,  but  let  us  act  at  once. 


166  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

AN  AMERICAN  FOURTH  OF  JULY 
JUNE  23,  1918 

IT  is  announced  that  on  the  Fourth  of  July  the 
celebration  is  to  be  by  race  groups  —  that  is,  by 
Scandinavians,  Slavs,  Germans,  Italians,  and  so 
forth.  In  sport  organizations  it  may  be  necessary  to 
have  such  a  kind  of  divided  celebration  in  some 
places,  but  I  most  emphatically  protest  against  such 
a  type  of  celebration  being  general,  and  I  doubt 
whether  it  is  advisable  to  have  it  anywhere.  On  the 
contrary,  I  believe  that  we  should  make  the  Fourth 
of  July  a  genuine  Americanization  day,  and  should 
use  it  to  teach  the  prime  lesson  of  .Americanism, 
which  is  that  there  is  no  room  in  the  country  for  the 
perpetuation  of  separate  race  groups  or  racial  divi 
sions;  that  we  must  all  be  Americans  and  nothing 
but  Americans,  and  that  therefore  on  the  Fourth  of 
July  we  should  all  get  together  simply  as  Americans 
and  celebrate  the  day  as  such  without  regard  to  our 
several  racial  origins. 

At  two  thirds  of  the  places  where  I  have  made 
speeches  on  Americanism  (and  these  speeches  have 
at  least  been  free  from  any  pussy-footing  on  Amer 
icanism),  I  have  been  introduced  by  straight 
Americans  who  were  in  whole  or  in  part  of  German 
blood.  At  Milwaukee,  for  example,  I  was  introduced 
by  August  Vogel,  who  has  three  sons  already  in  the 
army  and  a  fourth  who  will  enter  this  summer.  At 
Martinsville,  Indiana,  I  was  introduced  by  the 


HOW  NOT  TO  ADJOURN  POLITICS      167 

mayor,  George  F.  Schmidt,  who  has  two  sons  in  the 
army.  One  of  the  sons,  Wayne  Schmidt,  was  the 
catcher  of  the  University  of  Indiana  baseball  nine. 
He  was  in  the  same  regiment  with  my  two  sons,  Ted 
and  Archie,  and  like  Archie  has  been  severely 
wounded.  Mayor  Schmidt  writes  me: 

We  are  proud  of  Wayne  and  hope  that  his  wounds  will  soon 
heal  and  that  he  may  get  back  to  his  regiment  and  continue 
to  serve  his  country.  There  is  nothing  fifty-fifty  in  this  boy's 
blood  or  any  of  his  kin.  His  greatest  ambition  is  to  lead  a 
company  up  the  streets  of  Berlin. 

This  speaks  the  true  American! 

I  also  have  German  blood  in  my  veins.  We  Vogels 
and  Schmidts  and  Roosevelts  intend  to  celebrate  the 
Fourth  of  July  with  all  our  fellow  Americans,  with 
out  regard  to  whether  they  are  of  German,  English 
or  Irish,  French,  Scandinavian,  Spanish,  or  Italian 
blood.  Unless  they  are  Americans  and  nothing  else, 
they  are  out  of  place  at  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration, 
and  if  they  are  straight  Americans,  absolutely  loyal 
to  America,  and  resolutely  bent  on  putting  this  war 
through  until  it  is  crowned  by  the  peace  of  complete 
victory,  then  we  are  their  brothers,  their  fellow 
Americans,  and  we  decline  to  permit  any  lines  of 
separation  between  us  and  them. 


HOW  NOT  TO  ADJOURN  POLITICS 

JUNE  25,  1918 

IN  the  current  North  American  Review  and  its 
supplemental  War  Weekly  there  are  two  strong  and 


168  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

deeply  patriotic  articles  on  the  President's  recent 
announcement  that  politics  is  to  be  adjourned. 
When  contrasted  with  the  injection  of  politics  by  the 
President  into  the  senatorial  contests  in  Wisconsin 
and  Michigan,  never  before  in  any  great  crisis  in  this 
country  has  there  been  such  complete  subordination 
of  patriotism  to  politics  as  by  this  Administration 
during  this  war.  Witness  the  activities  of  the  organ 
ization  under  Messrs.  Burleson  and  Creel  and  the 
working  alliance  between  the  Administration  and 
the  Hearst  newspapers,  while  Vice-President  Mar 
shall  and  Secretary  McAdoo  give  the  signal  for  frank 
partisanship  of  an  extreme  type  in  their  public 
speeches.  The  various  activities  are,  of  course,  co- 
related  and  directed  toward  the  same  end. 

In  Wisconsin  the  President  interfered  by  a  per 
sonal  appeal  for  the  Democratic  senatorial  candidate 
against  the  Republican.  He  based  his  appeal  on 
certain  alleged  positions  taken  by  the  Republican 
candidate,  Mr.  Lenroot,  during  the  two  years  and  a 
half  preceding  our  entry  into  the  war,  which  posi 
tions,  he  asserted,  did  not  meet  the  "  acid  test  "  of 
patriotism.  The  President  made  the  conduct  of  our 
public  men  during  the  two  years  and  a  half  prior  to 
the  war  the  test  by  which  they  are  to  be  judged,  and 
where  he  himself  applies  this  test  to  others  he  must 
himself  be  judged  by  it. 

His  supporters  make  the  plea  that  to  call  attention 
to  the  President's  record  during  these  two  and  a  half 
years  is  to  cry  over  spilt  milk.  But  the  President's 
attack  on  Lenroot  was  a  square  repudiation  of  this 


HOW  NOT  TO  ADJOURN  POLITICS'     169 

plea  when  it  applied  to  anybody  except  himself.  In 
reality  the  "  acid  test  "  of  patriotism  during  these 
two  and  a  half  years  is  to  be  found  in  the  use  of 
phrases  like  "  too  proud  to  fight  "  and  "  peace  with 
out  victory  "  and  the  refusal  to  act  instead  of  merely 
talking  after  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania;  in  the 
fatuous  refusal  to  prepare  and  in  the  insistence  on 
preserving  an  ignoble  neutrality  between  right  and 
wrong  between  those  who  were  fighting  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  democracy  and  liberty  and  those  who 
were  fighting  to  overthrow  both.  Tried  by  the  test 
of  past  conduct  which  the  President  applied  to  Mr. 
Lenroot,  he  is  himself  found  wanting.  Mr.  Lenroot 
spilled  a  teaspoonful  of  milk,  but  Mr.  Wilson  spilled 
a  bucketful  and  he  must  not  call  attention  to  the 
teaspoon  and  expect  to  escape  having  attention 
called  to  the  bucket. 

The  President  has  now  personally  requested  Mr. 
Henry  Ford  to  come  forward  as  his  personal  candi 
date  for  the  Senate  in  Michigan.  This  action  cannot 
be  reconciled  either  with  the  President's  statement 
that  politics  must  be  adjourned  or  with  the  reasons 
he  alleged  for  opposing  Mr.  Lenroot.  No  man  was 
a  more  intense  pacifist,  no  man  struggled  harder 
against  preparedness,  no  man  was  more  eagerly 
hailed  as  an  ally  by  the  pro-Germans  than  Mr.  Ford 
during  the  two  and  a  half  years  before  we  did  our 
duty  and  entered  the  war.  He  is  not  a  Republican; 
he  is  not  a  Democrat.  He  supported  Mr.  Wilson  on 
the  "  he  kept  us  out  of  war  "  issue.  Mr.  Wilson  can 
only  desire  his  election  on  grounds  of  personal  poli- 


170  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

tics,  as  Mr.  Wilson  wishes  as  associates  not  strong 
men,  but  servants,  and  from  the  servants  he  de 
mands  servility  even  more  than  service.  I  have  not 
the  slightest  political  feeling  when  politics  comes  into 
hostile  contact  with  patriotism  and  Americanism. 
There  is  no  public  servant  whom  during  the  past 
year  I  have  supported  more  heartily  than  the  Demo 
cratic  Senator,  Chamberlain.  I  oppose  Mr.  Ford, 
because  in  the  great  crisis  I  feel  that  his  election 
would  be  a  calamity  from  the  standpoint  of  far- 
sighted  and  patriotic  Americanism.  I  would  oppose 
him  if  he  had  been  nominated  by  the  Republican 
Party.  I  oppose  him  in  precisely  the  same  spirit 
now  that  he  has  been  nominated  on  personal  grounds 
by  Mr.  Wilson. 


HATS   OFF  TO   THE   INTERNATIONAL 

TYPOGRAPHICAL  UNION 

JUNE  27,  1918 

THE  published  reports  of  the  International  Typo 
graphical  Union,  issued  from  Indianapolis,  make  a 
very  remarkable  showing  and  put  that  organization 
high  on  the  honor  roll  of  America  for  the  Great  War. 
Forty-one  hundred  journeymen  members  of  the 
union  and  seven  hundred  apprentices  are  in  the 
military  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  Seventy-five  members  have  already  paid 
with  their  lives  for  their  devotion  to  their  country. 
The  union  has  paid  $22,000  mortuary  benefits  to 


HATS  OFF  TO  TYPOGRAPHICAL  UNION   171 

the  widows,  orphans,  and  mothers  of  these  men. 
The  union,  through  its  executive  council,  has  in 
vested  $90,000  in  the  Liberty  loans,  and  subordi 
nate  local  unions  and  individual  members  have  in 
vested  $3,000,000  in  the  Liberty  loans. 

These  are  war-time  activities.  During  the  same 
period  the  International  Typographical  Union  has 
continued  all  its  ordinary  benefit  works.  It  has  paid 
over  $350,000  to  fifteen  hundred  old-age  pensioners, 
over  $300,000  in  mortuary  benefits,  and  $170,000 
to  the  Union  Printers'  Home  at  Colorado  Springs. 
Every  dollar  has  been  paid  by  members  of  the  organ 
ization  in  the  form  of  regular  dues  and  assessments. 
The  union  neither  solicits  nor  accepts  contributions 
to  its  benefit  funds. 

During  the  same  period  the  union  has  expended 
only  $1200  for  strike  expenses.  The  union  acts  in 
thoroughgoing  patriotic  fashion  on  the  conviction 
that  there  should  be  no  strikes  or  lockouts  during  the 
war.  Its  officers  regard  themselves  as  volunteers  in 
the  army  for  the  preservation  of  industrial  peace,  at 
least  for  the  duration  of  the  war,  and  I  hope  for  long 
after  the  war.  Such  conduct  offers  a  striking  con 
trast  to  the  action  of  certain  corporations  which  dur 
ing  this  war  have  refused  to  permit  their  employees 
to  organize.  Labor  has  as  much  right  as  capital  to 
organize.  It  is  tyranny  to  forbid  the  exercise  of  this 
right,  just  as  it  is  tyranny  to  misuse  the  power  ac 
quired  by  organization.  The  people  of  the  United 
States  do  not  believe  in  tyranny  and  do  believe  in 
cooperation. 


172  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

The  International  Typographical  Union  has 
offered  an  admirable  example  of  Americanism  and 
patriotism.  Its  attitude  is  typical  of  the  attitude  of 
organized  labor  generally.  Hats  off  to  the  Inter 
national  Typographical  Union!  And  hats  off  to  the 
working-men  and  working-women  of  the  United 
States! 


THE  PERFORMANCE  OF  A  GREAT 

PUBLIC  DUTY 

JULY  3,  1918 

IT  is  announced  from  Washington  that  the  President 
has  been  converted  to  the  need  of  universal  military 
training  of  our  young  men,  as  a  permanent  policy. 
This  is  excellent.  If  this  policy  is  forthwith  incorpo 
rated  into  our  laws,  it  will  represent  an  immense 
national  advance.  In  the  first  place,  it  will  guarantee 
us  against  a  repetition  of  the  humiliating  experiences 
of  the  last  four  years,  when  our  helpless  refusal  to 
prepare  invited  Germany's  attack  upon  us  and  then 
forced  us  to  rely  entirely  upon  our  allies  to  protect 
us  from  that  attack  while  for  over  a  year  we  slowly 
made  ready  to  defend  ourselves.  In  the  next  place, 
it  will  immeasurably  increase  the  moral  and  physical 
efficiency  of  the  young  men  who  are  trained  and  fit 
them  both  to  do  better  for  themselves  and  to  per 
form  in  better  fashion  the  tasks  of  American  citizen 
ship.  Finally  it  is  essential  that  the  policy  should  be 
adopted  now  while  we  are  at  war  and  therefore  while 


A  GREAT  PUBLIC  DUTY  173 

our  people  are  awake  to  the  needs  of  the  situation. 
As  soon  as  peace  comes,  there  will  be  a  revival  of  the 
sinister  agitation  of  the  pro-German  or  other  anti- 
American  leaders  and  of  the  silly  clamor  of  the 
pacifists,  all  of  whom  will  with  brazen  folly  again 
reiterate  that  preparedness  ends  with  war,  and  that, 
anyhow,  all  war  can  be  averted  by  signing  scraps  of 
paper.  The  adoption  at  once  of  the  policy  of  obliga 
tory  universal  military  training  will  be  the  perform 
ance  of  a  great  public  duty. 

For  three  years  the  foremost  advocates  of  this 
policy  have  pointed  out  that  it  can  advantageously 
be  combined  with  a  certain  amount  of  industrial 
training.  It  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  this  ele 
ment  of  industrial  training  will  be  incorporated  in 
the  law.  Of  course,  in  such  case  the  length  of  service 
with  the  colors  in  the  field,  aside  from  preliminary 
training  in  the  higher  school  grades,  ought  to  be  a 
year,  so  as  to  avoid  superficiality.  Credit  should  be 
given  the  graduates  of  certain  scholastic  institutions 
or  to  individuals  who  speedily  attain  a  high  degree 
of  proficiency,  and  for  them  the  time  of  service  could 
be  shortened.  All  officers  or  other  candidates  for 
officers'  training  schools  would  be  chosen  from 
among  the  best  of  the  men  who  had  gone  through 
the  training,  without  regard  to  anything  except  their 
fitness.  This  would  represent  the  embodiment  in 
our  army  of  the  democratic  principle  which  insists 
upon  an  equal  chance  for  all,  equal  justice  for  all,  and 
the  need  for  leadership,  and  therefore  for  special 
rewards  for  leadership.  The  industrial  training 


174  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

could  be  so  shaped  as  to  emphasize  the  need  that 
hard  workers  who  are  efficient  should  become  in  a 
real  sense  partners  in  industry,  and  that  insistence 
upon  efficiency  should  be  accompanied  by  a  fair 
division  of  the  rewards  of  efficiency,  and  by  insist 
ence  that  the  work  should  be  made  healthful  and 
interesting,  so  that  its  faithful  performance  would 
be  a  matter  of  pride  and  pleasure. 

At  this  moment  our  training  camps  are  huge  uni 
versities,  huge  laboratories  of  fine  American  citizen 
ship.  Let  us  make  them  permanent  institutions. 
They  develop  both  power  of  initiative  and  power  of 
obedience.  They  inculcate  self-reliance  and  self- 
respect.  They  also  inculcate  respect  for  others  and 
readiness  for  discipline,  which  means  readiness  to 
use  our  collective  power  in  such  shape  as  to  make  us 
threefold  more  efficient  than  we  have  been.  To  make 
these  camps  permanent  training  schools  for  all  our 
young  men  would  mean  the  greatest  boon  this 
Nation  could  receive. 


REPEAL  THE  CHARTER  OF  THE 

GERMAN-AMERICAN  ALLIANCE 

JULY  n,  1918 

THE  United  States  Senate  has  struck  an  effective 
blow  against  the  Hun  within  our  gates  by  unani 
mously  voting  to  repeal  the  charter  of  the  German- 
American  Alliance.  It  is  earriestly  to  be  hoped  that 
the  House  will  at  once  follow  suit  with  like  unanim- 


THE  GERMAN-AMERICAN  ALLIANCE    175 

ity.  The  Alliance  has  been  thoroughly  mischievous 
in  its  activities.  It  has  acted  in  the  interest  of  Ger 
many  and  against  the  interest  of  America.  It  has 
tried  to  perpetuate  Germanism  as  a  separate  nation 
ality  with  a  separate  language  in  the  United  States; 
it  has  attacked  our  allies;  it  has  encouraged  dis 
loyalty;  it  was  decorated  by  the  Kaiser  for  its 
services  to  Germany.  It  has  endeavored  to  prosti 
tute  our  politics  to  German  needs.  I  have  personally 
had  the  honor  of  being  specially  singled  out  by  it 
for  attack.  It  received  money  from  the  Brewers' 
Association  for  the  campaign  against  prohibition. 

At  this  time,  when  the  campaign  of  German  fright- 
fulness  is  in  full  blast,  when  the  Prussianized  Ger 
many  of  the  Hohenzollerns  is  steadily  adding  to 
its  list  of  literally  unforgivable  offenses  against 
civilization,  there  is  no  room  in  this  country  for  any 
organization,  great  or  small,  which  either  defends 
Germany  or  is  lukewarm  in  the  great  crusade  against 
her  in  which  America  will  henceforth  play  a  leading 
part.  Germany  has  recently  scored  another  victory 
for  frightfulness  by  sinking  a  Canadian  hospital  ship 
without  warning  and  drowning  two  hundred  persons, 
including  women  nurses.  The  ship  was  a  mercy 
vessel,  not  a  warship,  and  was  so  distinctly  marked 
that  it  was  impossible  to  mistake  it.  The  attack 
upon  it  was  sheer  murder.  Yet  the  German  people 
tolerate,  applaud,  and  approve  the  action  of  the 
German  Government  in  this  continuous  and  method 
ically  organized  campaign  of  murder,  rape,  and 
outrage. 


176  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

The  most  complete  exposure  of  Germany's  in 
famous  purpose  in  forcing  this  dreadful  war  upon 
the  world  is  contained  in  the  pamphlet  written 
by  the  leading  German  steel  magnate,  Herr  August 
Thyssen.  This  pamphlet  has  been  translated  into 
English,  has  been  put  into  the  official  record  by 
Senator  Owen,  of  Oklahoma,  has  been  printed  in  full 
in  the  San  Francisco  Argonaut  and  Baltimore  Manu 
facturers'  Record,  and  circulated  in  pamphlet  form 
by  Mr.  J.  G.  Butler,  Jr.,  of  Youngstown,  Ohio.  It 
is  accessible  to  everybody.  Herr  Thyssen  has  no  con 
ception  of  the  monstrous  turpitude  of  the  plan  which 
he  supported.  His  only  complaint  is  that  he  and  the 
other  German  financiers  were  fooled  by  the  German 
Kaiser  and  the  German  Government,  who  promised 
them  victory  and  failed  to  furnish  it.  He  proves  that 
German  capitalism  was  just  as  responsible  for  the 
war  as  German  militarism  (which  incidentally  shows 
the  peculiar  infamy  of  the  Russian  Bolshevists  and 
American  Socialists  and  their  allies  in  playing  Ger 
many's  game).  He  shows  that  Germany's  ruthless 
brutality  was  equaled  by  her  sordid  greed.  He 
showed  that  the  Hohenzollern  Government,  through 
the  Emperor  and  the  Chancellor,  deliberately 
planned  the  war  over  a  year  and  a  half  before  it 
broke  out,  and  at  that  time  and  on  several  occasions 
gathered  the  leading  business  men  of  Germany,  in 
formed  them  of  the  plans,  and  got  their  support  by 
holding  out  the  war  as  one  of  sheer  plunder.  The 
other  nations  were  to  be  attacked  simply  in  order 
to  rob  them  naked.  Herr  Thyssen  himself  was 


A  RIGHT  TO  ONE  COUNTRY  177 

promised  thirty  thousand  acres  in  Australia.  The 
Emperor  particularly  dwelt  on  the  conquest  of  India, 
saying  that  the  English  allowed  the  vast  Indian 
revenue  to  be  used  for  and  by  the  Indians  them 
selves,  but  that  Germany  after  her  conquest  would 
turn  the  whole  "  Golden  Stream  into  the  Father 
land."  There  could  be  no  finer  tribute  to  England 
when  compared  with  Germany  than  that  which  is 
thus  furnished  by  the  Emperor. 

In  point  of  international  morality  the  Germany 
of  the  Hohenzollerns  has  become  the  wild  beast  of 
the  nations.  Whoever  directly  or  indirectly  works 
for  her  or  against  our  allies  or  who  is  merely  luke 
warm  in  the  war  is  an  enemy  of  this  country,  and  an 
enemy  of  all  mankind. 


EVERY  MAN  HAS  A  RIGHT  TO  ONE 
COUNTRY 
JULY  15,  1918 

EVERY  man  ought  to  love  his  country.  If  he  does 
not  love  his  country  and  is  not  eager  to  serve  her,  he 
is  a  worthless  creature  and  should  be  contemptu 
ously  thrown  out  of  the  country  when  possible,  and 
at  any  rate  debarred  from  all  rights  of  citizenship  in 
the  country.  He  is  only  entitled  to  one  country.  If 
he  claims  loyalty  to  two  countries,  he  is  necessarily 
a  traitor  to  at  least  one  country.  If  he  claims  to  be 
loyal  to  both  Germany  and  America,  he  is  necessarily 
a  traitor  to  America.  No  man  can  be  a  good  Ameri- 


178  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

can  now  unless  he  is  an  enemy  of  Germany  and  Ger 
many's  allies  and  a  stanch  supporter  of  America's 
allies. 

But  it  is  just  as  wicked  and  just  as  un-American 
to  deny  the  loyal  American,  of  whatever  origin,  the 
full  benefit  of  his  allegiance  to  one  country  as  it  is  to 
permit  the  disloyal  American  to  exercise1  a  treacher 
ous  alternative  allegiance  to  two  countries.  Every 
man  has  a  right  to  one  country.  He  has  a  right  to 
love  and  serve  that  country  and  to  feel  that  it  is 
absolutely  his  country  and  that  he  has  in  it  every 
right  possessed  by  any  one  else.  It  is  our  duty  to 
require  the  man  of  German  blood  who  is  an  Ameri 
can  citizen  to  give  up  all  allegiance  to  Germany 
whole-heartedly  and  without  on  his  part  any  mental 
reservation  whatever.  If  he  does  this,  it  becomes  no 
less  our  duty  to  give  him  the  full  rights  of  an  Ameri 
can,  including  our  loyal  respect  and  friendship  with 
out  on  our  part  any  mental  reservation  whatever. 
The  duties  are  reciprocal,  and  from  the  standpoint 
of  American  patriotism  one  is  as  important  as  the 
other. 

There  has  been  nothing  finer  in  this  war,  nothing 
of  better  augury  for  the  future  of  America,  than  the 
high  courage  and  splendid  loyalty  shown  by  the 
American  soldiers  and  sailors  who  are  of  German 
blood.  Relatively  to  their  number  they  have  come 
forward  as  freely  into  the  ranks  of  our  fighting  men 
as  the  Americans  of  any  other  stock,  and  all  alike 
have  shown  the  same  soldierly  efficiency,  the  same 
devoted  patriotism,  and,  when  the  need  arose,  the 


A  RIGHT  TO  ONE  COUNTRY  179 

same  heroism.  The  crew  of  the  torpedo  destroyer 
who  face  the  submarine,  and  the  airmen  of  the 
battle  planes  whose  lives  are  in  peril  every  hour,  and 
the  infantry  stoggers  and  doughboys  and  marines 
who  stand  the  killing  and  suffer  the  grueling  hard 
ship  and  misery  of  the  line  fighting,  all  alike  number 
in  their  ranks  relatively  just  as  many  Americans  of 
German  as  of  any  other  blood.  Any  one  can  see  this 
who  will  look  over  the  lists  of  casualties  and  the  lists 
of  men  cited  for  deeds  of  high  gallantry.  The  official 
reports  of  the  German  officers  bear  unintended 
testimony  to  the  intense  and  patriotic  Americanism 
of  these  men  whom  the  Hohenzollern  officials  sneer 
at  as  "  half  Americans,"  and  who,  even  when  taken 
prisoners,  are  admitted  by  the  German  army  officers 
to  "  express  without  hesitation  purely  American 
sentiments."  In  other  words,  the  Pan-German 
propaganda  on  behalf  of  German  kultur  has  broken 
down  in  America,  and  as  a  consequence  there  are  no 
people  in  this  country  so  hated  in  the  Prussianized 
Germany  of  the  Hohenzollerns  as  the  Americans  of 
German  blood. 

The  very  worst  enemies  of  these  Americans  have 
been  the  traitors  and  dupes  of  traitors  who  have  been 
during  the  last  few  years  the  leaders  of  the  German- 
American  Alliance  and  of  the  newspapers  in  German 
or  English  who  have  backed  up  the  Alliance  and 
similar  organizations.  The  dissolution  by  law  of  the 
Alliance  and  the  gradual  change  of  German  news 
papers  into  newspapers  published  in  English  will  be 
of  benefit  to  true  Americans  of  German  blood  more 


1 8o  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

than  any  other  of  our  citizens.  But  the  Americans 
of  other  blood  must  remember  that  the  man  who  in 
good  faith  and  without  reservations  gives  up  another 
country  for  this  must  in  return  receive  exactly  the 
same  rights,  not  merely  legal,  but  social  and  spirit 
ual,  that  other  Americans  proudly  possess.  We  of 
the  United  States  belong  to  a  new  and  separate 
nationality.  We  are  all  Americans  and  nothing  else, 
and  each,  without  regard  to  his  birthplace,  creed,  or 
national  origin,  is  entitled  to  exactly  the  same  rights 
as  all  other  Americans. 


MURDER,  TREASON,  AND    PARLOR 
ANARCHY 
JULY  18,  1918 

ONE  of  the  cheapest  methods  by  which  some  well- 
meaning,  silly  people,  and  some  sinister  people  who 
are  not  well-meaning,  achieve  a  reputation  for 
broad-minded  liberality  in  matters  relating  to  social 
reforms  is  to  champion  or  excuse  criminality  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  due  to  social  conditions.  The 
parlor  anarchist  or  parlor  Bolshevist  is  not  an  at 
tractive  person,  and  he  may  be  mischievous  when 
he  joins  the  genuine  anarchist,  the  "  direct  "  man 
with  the  bomb,  because  selfish  and  unpatriotic 
politicians  then  find  it  advantageous  to  pander  to 
both.  This  species  of  parlor  anarchist  appeals  to 
emotional  persons  of  superficial  cultivation,  whether 
writers,  college  men,  sham  economists,  or  sham  re- 


TREASON  AND  PARLOR  ANARCHY     181 

ligious  and  charitable  workers,  because  it  makes  no 
demand  either  upon  robust  vigor  of  soul  or  thorough 
ness  of  mental  process.  At  the  moment  it  manifests 
itself  in  sympathy  for  the  I.W.W.  and  for  convicted 
dynamiters  and  murderers  like  Mooney. 

There  are  honest  and  ignorant  working-men  who 
join  the  I.W.W.  because  they  are  misled  or  because 
in  some  given  locality  industrial  conditions  really 
are  intolerable.  I  have  heard  on  good  authority  of 
logging  camps,  for  instance,  where  the  men  joined 
the  I.W.W.  and  practiced  sabotage  because  they 
were  treated  tyrannically  and  foolishly  and  where 
good  treatment  turned  them  into  good  citizens. 
But  I  know  far  more  numerous  instances  in  which 
the  leaders  have  simply  been  thugs  and  murderous 
malefactors  whose  criminality  was  not  in  the  least 
due  to  social  conditions,  but  to  their  own  foul 
natures.  By  all  means  let  us  remedy  the  social 
conditions  that  are  wrong,  but  let  us  shun,  as  we 
would  shun  the  plague,  that  mawkish  sentimentality 
of  downright  moral  and  physical  cowardice  which 
fears  to  call  murder,  treason,  violence,  arson,  and 
rape  by  their  right  names  and  treat  them  as  crimes 
to  be  punished  with  relentless  severity. 

Actually  there  have  been  make-believe  social 
reformers  who  have  sought  to  excuse  a  brute  who 
raped  a  little  girl  on  the  ground  that  social  condi 
tions  made  him  what  he  was,  and  others  who  on 
similar  grounds  have  protested  against  the  condign 
punishment  of  men  who  burn  haystacks,  ruin  ma 
chinery,  dynamite  peace  parades,  and,  in  the  interest 


1 82  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

of  German  agents,  destroy  machinery  in  mines  or 
munition  factories.  Any  man  who  is  misled  in  these 
matters  can  get  full  information  by  buying  a  pam 
phlet  recently  written  by  a  former  Socialist,  Mr. 
Everett  Harri,  called  "  The  I.W.W.  an  Auxiliary  of 
the  German  Espionage  System."  The  simple  truth 
is  that  the  men  who  lead  and  give  the  tone  to  the 
I.W.W.  are  more  dangerous  criminals  than  an  equal 
number  of  white-slavers  and  black-handers,  and  to 
give  aid  and  comfort  to  one  set  of  enemies  of  the 
Nation  is  as  bad  as  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
others. 

The  ablest,  most  far-sighted,  and  most  patriotic 
of  the  heads  of  organized  labor  are  more  opposed  to 
the  I.W.W.  as  it  is  at  present  handled  than  are  any 
other  persons  in  the  Nation.  In  just  the  same  way 
the  farmers  whose  resentment  of  wrongdoing  is 
keenest  should  repudiate  the  Non-Partisan  League 
just  as  long  as  it  submits  to  such  leadership  as  that 
of  most  of  the  men  who  are  at  present  at  its  head, 
and  just  so  long  as  it  stands  for  covert  disloyalty,  as 
it  has  recently  done  on  so  many  different  occasions 
in  so  many  different  places.  I  am  well  aware  that 
great  numbers  of  honest  and  loyal  farmers  of  high 
character  have  joined  the  League,  because  they 
rightly  think  that  many  of  the  economic  conditions 
now  affecting  the  farmer  imperatively  call  for 
remedy.  There  are  any  number  of  men  like  myself 
who  will  join  with  the  farmers  in  any  sane  and  patri 
otic  movement  to  remedy  these  conditions,  no 
matter  how  radical  such  a  movement  may  be.  But 


BACK  UP  THE  FIGHTING  MEN         183 

we  will  join  with  no  movement  whose  leaders  are 
tainted  with  disloyalty,  or  who  refuse  to  give  to 
others  the  same  square  deal  they  demand  for  them 
selves,  or  who  fail  to  insist  that  here  in  America  the 
one  organization  to  which  we  all  of  us  owe  a  loyalty 
greater  than  is  any  other,  greater  than  to  any  labor 
union  or  farmers'  league  or  business  or  professional 
body,  is  the  union  of  the  entire  American  people. 


BACK  UP  THE  FIGHTING  MEN 

AT  THE  FRONT 

JULY  26,  1918 

THERE  is  no  American  worth  calling  such  whose 
veins  do  not  thrill  with  pride  when  he  reads  of  what 
has  been  done  by  General  Pershing  and  his  gallant 
army  in  France.  The  soldiers  over  there  who  wear 
the  American  uniform  have  made  all  good  Americans 
forever  their  debtors.  Now  and  always  afterward 
we  of  this  country  will  walk  with  our  heads  high 
because  of  the  men  who  face  death  and  wounds,  and 
so  many  of  whom  have  given  their  lives  fighting  for 
this  Nation  and  for  the  great  ideals  of  humanity 
across  the  seas. 

But  we  must  not  let  our  pride  and  our  admiration 
evaporate  in  mere  pride,  in  mere  admiration  of  what 
others  have  done.  We  must  put  the  whole  strength 
of  this  Nation  back  of  the  fighting  men  at  the  front. 
We  owe  it  to  them.  We  owe  it  at  least  as  much  to 
the  gallant  Allies,  who  for  near  four  years  fought  the 


1 84  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

great  battle  that  was  our  battle,  no  less  than  theirs. 
At  last  we  have  begun  to  come  to  their  assistance, 
but  let  us  solemnly  realize  that  we  came  very  late, 
and  that  it  is  a  dreadful  thing  if  we  waste  one  hour 
that  can  now  be  saved,  or  weaken  in  the  smallest 
degree  any  effort  that  can  be  made.  The  inability,  or 
refusal,  of  Bolshevist  Russia  to  do  her  part  in  the 
great  war  for  liberty  and  democracy  has  cast  a 
terrible  added  burden  upon  the  Allies.  On  the 
eastern  front  this  has  meant  the  temporary  Allied 
ruin  and  the  freeing  of  the  armies  of  the  autocracy 
for  action  against  the  western  peoples.  England, 
France,  and  Belgium  for  four  years  and  Italy  for 
over  three  years  have  been  fighting  the  battle  of 
civilization.  Their  man  power  is  terribly  depleted. 
Thank  Heaven,  we  have  got  some  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  soldiers  across  in  time  to  be  a  real 
element  in  saving  Paris.  Our  first  duty,  if  we  wish  to 
win  the  war,  is  to  save  Paris.  Temporarily,  at  least, 
and  I  hope  permanently,  we  have  done  our  part  in 
this  respect.  But  the  least  faltering,  the  least  letting- 
up,  or  failure  in  pushing  forward  our  preparations 
and  our  assistance,  would  be  dangerous  to  the  Allied 
cause  and  a  wicked  desertion  of  our  allies. 

From  now  on  America  should  make  this  peculiarly 
America's  war.  From  now  on  we  should  take  the 
burden  of  the  war  upon  our  shoulders.  We  should 
move  forward  at  once  with  all  the  force  that  there 
is  in  us.  We  should  not  allow  the  war  to  drag  for  so 
much  as  a  day,  and  above  all  we  should  not  permit 
our  people  to  fall  under  the  spell  of  pacifist  dreams 


BACK  UP  THE  FIGHTING  MEN          185 

or  possible  pacifist  actions.  There  should  not  be  in 
termission  of  so  much  as  a  week  in  sending  our  troops 
across  the  seas.  This  war  won't  be  won  by  food,  or 
by  money,  or  by  savings,  or  by  Thrift  Stamps,  or  by 
the  Red  Cross,  or  by  anything  else,  although  all  of 
these  will  help  win  the  war.  It  will  be  won  by  the 
valor  of  the  fighting  men  at  the  front,  and  this  valor 
will  fail  unless  our  fighting  men  at  the  front  are 
millions  strong. 

Every  week  this  summer  and  fall  we  should  be 
putting  fresh  troops  by  scores  of  thousands  across 
the  ocean,  and  now,  to-day,  this  week,  we  should 
provide  for  placing  a  larger  army  in  the  field  next 
spring  than  Germany  itself,  or  France  and  England 
combined.  We  are  a  more  populous,  a  richer  country 
than  Germany,  we  have  a  larger  population  than 
Great  Britain  and  France  combined.  These  nations 
have  fought  for  four  years.  We  have  only  just  begun 
to  fight.  Let  us  at  once  mobilize  the  whole  man 
power  of  this  country  between  the  ages  of  nineteen 
and  fifty  or  sixty.  The  draft  should  take  in  all  men 
of  nineteen,  even  if  they  were  not  sent  abroad  until 
they  were  twenty  years  old.  Let  us  act  at  once. 
Perhaps  we  can  beat  the  Germans  this  year  if  we 
keep  pouring  our  troops  over  with  the  utmost  speed. 
But  let  us  take  no  chances.  Let  us  proceed  upon  the 
assumption  that  Germany  will  fight  next  spring,  and 
therefore  let  us  act  instantly  so  that  by  spring  we 
will  have  in  France  an  army  of  fighting  men,  ex 
clusive  of  non-combatants  and  exclusive  of  home 
depots,  which  shall  amount  to  four  million  armed 


1 86  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

soldiers  at  the  very  least.  Let  us  fight  beside  the 
French,  the  British,  the  Italians,  and  be  ready  to 
fight  instantly  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula  and  in  Asia 
Minor  against  the  Germans  and  all  her  vassal  states. 
There  must  be  no  delay,  not  by  so  much  as  one  hour, 
and  no  letting-up  for  one  moment  in  the  cause  of 
our  entire  strength. 


THE  AMERICANS  WHOM  WE  MOST 

DELIGHT  TO  HONOR 

AUGUST  i,  1918 

AT  long  intervals  in  the  history  of  a  nation  there 
come  great  days  when  the  picked  sons  of  the  Nation 
determine  for  generations  to  come  that  nation's 
place  in  history.  During  the  last  few  weeks  our 
fighting  men  in  France  have  rendered  all  the  rest  of 
us  forever  their  debtors.  They  have  won  high  honor 
for  themselves  and  for  their  country.  Our  children's 
children  will  owe  them  deep  gratitude  for  what  they 
have  done.  All  Americans  hold  their  heads  higher 
because  of  their  deeds. 

Their  achievement  has  been  won  at  the  cost  of 
perseverance  in  training  and  of  resolution  in  facing 
unbelievable  hardship  and  fatigue.  It  has  also  cost 
and  will  cost  the  death,  the  crippling,  and  the 
wounding  of  many  scores  of  thousands  of  our  best 
and  bravest.  We  who  stay  behind  in  ease  and  com 
fort,  who  show  our  patriotism  by  economizing  on 
sugar  or  wheat  or  beef  instead  of  by  living  in  our 


HONORED  AMERICANS  187 

clothes  until  they  rot  off  us  in  the  trenches,  or  who 
pay  money  for  taxes  and  bonds  and  Thrift  Stamps 
instead  of  paying  with  our  blood,  owe  an  incalculable 
debt  to  the  men  at  the  front  and  to  the  mothers, 
wives,  and  little  children  of  those  who  are  killed  at 
the  front.  We  must  pay  this  debt. 

The  debt  is  due  to  our  wonderful  fighting  men  at 
the  front  individually,  to  our  army  collectively,  and 
to  this  Nation  as  a  whole.  We  must  provide  for  the 
crippled  men  and  for  the  widows  and  children  of  the 
dead.  Nothing  that  we  can  do  wrill  lighten  the  bitter 
sorrow  of  those  who  have  lost  the  men  they  loved; 
stern  pride  in  the  courage  and  gallant  devotion  of 
those  who  are  dead  is  the  only  staff  that  will  help  to 
carry  that  burden  for  the  living.  But  the  material 
needs  of  the  survivors  must  be  met  with  ample 
generosity  and  yet  in  the  only  permanently  effective 
fashion,  by  training  those  who  need  help  to  help 
themselves  and  achieve  an  ever-increasing  self- 
respect  and  self-reliance. 

We  must  now  help  the  army  as  a  whole  by  strain 
ing  every  nerve  without  a  day's  delay  immensely  to 
increase  our  strength,  our  numbers,  and  our  re 
sources  at  the  front.  We  should  provide  now,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  we  ought  to  have  provided  six 
months  ago,  for  an  army  of  six  or  seven  million  men, 
so  that  when  next  spring  opens  we  may  have  at  least 
four  million  fighting  men  at  the  front.  We  are  more 
populous  than  Germany,  or  France  and  Great 
Britain  combined,  and  we  should  provide  so  that 
two  years  after  we  entered  the  war  our  army  shall 


1 88  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

be  as  large  as  Germany's  or  as  the  combined  forces 
of  our  allies  in  France.  We  should  speed  to  the  limit 
the  work  of  the  ships,  guns,  and  airplanes.  At 
present  our  army  is  in  France  mainly  because  of  the 
aid  of  British  ships,  and  it  is  able  to  fight  mainly 
because  of  the  field  cannon  and  even  airplanes  it 
has  received  from  the  French.  The  draft  limit 
should  be  immensely  increased  and  the  exceptions 
immensely  decreased. 

To  stand  by  the  army  is  to  stand  by  the  Nation, 
and  therefore  to  stand  by  the  Allies  to  whom  our 
national  faith  is  plighted.  This  war  will  be  won  by 
the  fighting  men  at  the  front.  All  other  work  is 
merely  auxiliary  and  is  entirely  subordinate  to  theirs. 
Let  us  provide  for  the  army  instantly,  and  let  us 
provide  for  the  Nation's  future  permanently  by  at 
once  introducing  the  policy  of  universal  obligatory 
military  training  for  all  our  young  men. 

The  fighting  men  at  the  front  are  the  men  most 
worthy  of  honor.  Let  every  American  lad  hereafter 
be  trained  so  that  in  time  of  need  he  can  fill  this 
most  honorable  of  all  positions. 


SOUND  NATIONALISM  AND  SOUND 
INTERNATIONALISM 

AUGUST  4,  1918 

THE  glorious  victory  of  the  Allies  in  the  second 
battle  of  the  Marne,  a  victory  in  which  the  hard- 
fighting  soldiers  of  the  American  army  have  borne 


SOUND  NATIONALISM  189 

so  distinguished  and  honorable  a  part,  may  mean  the 
failure  of  the  German  military  offensive  for  this  year. 
Therefore  it  may  mean  a  renewal  of  the  German 
peace  offensive.  No  man  can  prophesy  in  these 
matters,  but  the  Germans  may  continue  the  war  for 
a  long  time;  and  therefore  we  should  prepare  to 
have  in  France  an  army  of  four  million  fighting  men 
for  the  battle  front  next  spring.  But  the  Germans 
may  try  to  make  peace  instead  of  continuing  the  war, 
and  may  seek  to  cover  their  retention  of  some  of 
their  ill-gotten  substantial  gains  by  nominal  and 
theoretical  support  of  some  glittering  proposal  about 
a  league  of  nations  to  end  all  war.  They  will  thereby 
hope  to  keep  part  of  their  booty  by  appealing  to 
what  is  vaguely  called  internationalism  and  getting 
the  support  not  only  of  sentimentalists  who  do  not 
like  to  look  unpleasant  facts  in  the  face,  but  also  of 
the  good  people  who  are  appalled  and  puzzled  and 
panic-struck  by  the  horror  Germany  has  brought  on 
the  world,  and  who,  instead  of  bracing  themselves 
to  put  down  this  horror  by  their  own  hardened 
strength  and  iron  will,  clutch  at  any  quack  remedy 
which  false  prophets  hold  out  as  offering  a  substitute 
for  such  action. 

Therefore  it  is  well  at  this  time  for  sober  and 
resolute  men  and  women  to  apply  that  excellent 
variety  of  wisdom  colloquially  known  as  "  horse 
sense  "  to  the  problems  of  nationalism  and  inter 
nationalism.  These  problems  will  not  be  solved  by 
rhetoric.  Least  of  all  will  they  be  solved  by  competi 
tive  rhetoric.  Masters  of  phrase-making  may  win 


190  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

immense,  although  evanescent,  applause  by  outvy 
ing  one  another  in  words  that  glitter,  but  these 
glittering  words  will  not  have  one  shred  of  lasting 
effect  on  the  outcome  except  in  so  far  as  they  may 
have  a  very  mischievous  effect  if  they  persuade 
people  to  abandon  the  possible  real  good  in  the 
fantastic  effort  to  achieve  an  impossible,  unreal 
perfection.  Let  honest  men  and  women  remember 
that  this  kind  of  phrase-mongering  does  not  repre 
sent  idealism.  The  only  idealism  worth  considering 
in  the  workaday  business  of  this  world  is  applied 
idealism.  This  is  merely  another  way  of  saying  that 
permanent  good  to  humanity  only  comes  from  actu 
ally  trying  to  reduce  ideals  to  practice,  and  this 
means  that  the  ideals  must  be  substantially  or  at 
least  measurably  realizable. 

The  professed  internationalist  usually  sneers  at 
nationalism,  at  patriotism,  and  at  what  we  call 
Americanism.  He  bids  us  forswear  our  love  of 
country  in  the  name  of  love  of  the  world  at  large. 
We  nationalists  answer  that  he  has  begun  at  the 
wrong  end;  we  say  that  as  the  world  now  is,  it  is 
only  the  man  who  ardently  loves  his  country  first 
who  in  actual  practice  can  help  any  other  country  at 
all.  The  internationalist  bids  us  promise  to  abandon 
the  idea  of  keeping  America  permanently  ready  to 
defend  her  rights  by  her  strength,  and  to  trust,  in 
stead,  to  scraps  of  paper,  to  written  agreements  by 
which  all  nations  form  a  league,  and  agree  to  disarm 
and  agree  each  to  treat  all  other  nations,  big  or  little, 
on  an  exact  equality.  We  nationalists  answer  that 


SOUND  NATIONALISM  191 

we  are  ready  to  join  any  league  to  enforce  peace  or 
similar  organization  which  offers  a  likelihood  of  in 
some  measure  lessening  the  number  and  the  area  of 
future  wars,  but  only  on  condition  that  in  the  first 
place  we  do  not  promise  what  will  not  or  ought  not 
to  be  performed,  or  be  guilty  of  proclaiming  a  sham, 
and  that  in  the  second  place  we  do  not  surrender 
our  right  and  duty  to  prepare  our  own  strength  for 
our  own  defense  instead  of  trusting  to  the  above- 
mentioned  scraps  of  paper.  In  justification  we  point 
to  certain  very  obvious  facts  which  ought  to  be 
patent  to  every  man  of  common  sense. 

Any  such  league  of  nations  must,  of  course,  in 
clude  the  nine  nations  which  have  the  greatest 
military  strength  or  it  will  be  utterly  impotent. 
These  nine  nations  include  Germany,  Austria, 
Turkey,  and  Russia.  The  first  three  have  abun 
dantly  shown  during  the  last  four  years  that  no 
written  or  other  promise  of  the  most  binding  kind 
has  even  the  slightest  effect  upon  their  actions.  The 
fourth,  Russia,  under  the  lead  and  dominion  of  the 
Bolsheviki,  has  just  been  guilty  of  the  grossest  pos 
sible  betrayal  of  her  allies  and  of  the  small  kindred 
Slavonic  peoples  and  of  world  democracy.  This 
betrayal  was  in  the  interest  of  a  military  and  des 
potic  autocracy  and  included  the  direct  violation  of 
Russia's  plighted  faith.  Under  such  conditions  it  is 
unnecessary  to  say  that  Russia's  signature  to  any 
future  league  to  enforce  peace  will  not  be  worth  the 
paper  on  which  it  is  written.  Therefore  the  creation 
of  any  such  league  for  the  future  will  simply  mean  a 


192  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

pledge  by  the  present  Allies  to  make  their  alliance 
perpetual  and  all  to  go  to  war  again  whenever  one 
of  them  is  attacked.  This  may  become  necessary, 
but  it  certainly  does  not  imply  future  disarmament. 
Nor  is  this  all.  The  United  States  must  come  into 
court  with  clean  hands.  She  must  not  pledge  herself 
without  reservation  to  the  right  of  "  self-deter 
mination  "  for  each  people  while  she  has  behaved 
toward  Haiti  and  San  Domingo  as  she  is  now  behav 
ing.  It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  say  whether  our 
action  in  these  two  cases  has  been  right  or  wrong, 
because  the  Administration,  with  its  usual  horror  of 
publicity,  whether  pitiless  or  otherwise,  and  its 
inveterate  predilection  for  secret  and  furtive  diplo 
macy,  has  kept  most  of  the  facts  hidden.  I  believe 
that  there  was  no  possible  excuse  for  such  secret 
diplomacy  in  these  cases  and  that  the  same  course 
should  have  been  followed  as  was  followed  in  the 
case  of  the  Panama  revolution,  where  every  fact 
was  immediately  laid  without  reservation  before 
Congress.  But  even  if  I  am  wrong  in  my  belief  in 
the  general  principle  of  open  diplomacy,  and  even  if 
the  Administration  is  right  in  its  consistent  policy 
of  secret  diplomacy  as  regards  the  mass  of  questions 
which  I  think  ought  to  be  made  public,  the  fact 
remains  that  we  have  with  armed  force  invaded, 
made  war  upon,  and  conquered  the  two  small  re 
publics,  have  upset  their  governments,  have  denied 
them  the  right  of  self-determination,  and  have  made 
democracy  within  their  limits  not  merely  unsafe  but 
non-existent.  As  we  have  no  published  facts  to  go 


SOUND  NATIONALISM  193 

on,  I  cannot  say  whether  their  misconduct  did  or 
did  not  warrant  such  drastic  action  on  our  part,  but 
on  the  assumption  that  the  Administration  acted 
properly,  we  are  committed  to  the  principle  that 
some  nations  are  not  fit  for  self-determination,  that 
democracy  within  their  limits  is  a  sham,  and  that 
their  offenses  against  justice  and  right  are  such  as  to 
render  interference  by  their  more  powerful  and  more 
civilized  neighbors  imperative.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
this  principle  is  true  in  some  cases,  whether  or  not  it 
ought  to  be  applied  in  these  two  particular  cases.  In 
any  event,  our  continuing  action  in  San  Domingo  and 
Haiti  makes  it  hypocritical  for  us  to  lay  down  any  uni 
versal  rules  about  self-determination  for  all  nations. 
Our  action  also  shows  how  utterly  futile  it  would 
be  to  try  to  treat  a  league  to  enforce  peace  as  a  sub 
stitute  for  training  our  own  strength  for  our  own  de 
fense.  Let  China  be  the  witness  of  the  truth  of  this 
statement.  China  has  actually  realized  the  ideal  of 
the  pacifists  who  insist  that  unpreparedness  for  war 
secures  peace.  The  ideal  of  the  internationalists  is 
that  patriotism  and  sense  of  nationalism  are  detri 
mental  to  humanity,  and  the  ideal  of  the  Socialists 
is  that  the  capitalist  regime  is  the  only  cause  of 
popular  misery.  China  is  helpless  to  attack  others  or 
defend  herself,  her  people  have  little  sense  of  national 
unity  and  pride,  and  there  are  in  China  huge  dis 
tricts  where  there  are  no  capitalists  and  where  the 
misery  of  the  people  is  greater  than  in  any  country  of 
the  Occident.  China's  helplessness,  instead  of  help 
ing  toward  world  peace,  has  been  a  positive  encour- 


194  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

agement  to  war  and  violence  among  her  neighbors. 
Her  future  depends  primarily,  not  on  herself,  but  on 
what  her  neighbors  choose  to  do.  In  spite  of  her  size 
and  her  enormous  population  and  resources,  she  is 
helpless  to  do  good  to  others  because  she  is  power 
less  to  prevent  others  from  doing  evil  to  her.  Her 
agreement  to  a  league  of  nations  or  to  a  league  to 
enforce  peace  would  be  worthless,  because  she  is 
unable  to  put  strength  back  of  justice  either  for 
herself  or  for  any  one  else.  The  pacifists  and  inter 
nationalists  if  they  had  their  way  would  turn  the 
United  States  into  the  China  of  the  Occident. 

Let  us  put  our  trust  neither  in  rhetoric  nor  hypoc 
risy,  whether  conscious  or  unconscious.  Let  us  be 
honest  with  ourselves.  Let  us  look  the  truth  in  the 
face.  Let  us  remember  what  Germany,  Austria,  and 
Turkey  have  actually  done.  Let  us  remember  what 
Russia  has  suffered  from  Germany  and  the  worse 
than  folly  with  which  she  has  behaved  to  every  one 
else.  Let  us  remember  what  has  happened  to  China 
and  what  we  have  made  happen  to  Haiti  and  San 
Domingo.  Then  let  us  trust  for  our  salvation  to  a 
sound  and  intense  American  nationalism. 

The  horse  sense  of  the  matter  is  that  all  agree 
ments  to  further  the  cause  of  sound  internationalism 
must  be  based  on  recognition  of  the  fact  that  as  the 
world  is  actually  constituted  our  present  prime  need 
is  this  sound  and  intense  American  nationalism. 
The  first  essential  of  this  sound  nationalism  is  that 
the  Nation  shall  trust  to  its  own  fully  prepared 
strength  for  its  own  defense.  So  far  as  possible,  its 


SOUND  NATIONALISM  195 

strength  must  also  be  used  to  secure  justice  for  others 
and  must  never  be  used  to  wrong  others.  But  unless 
we  possess  and  prepare  the  strength,  we  can  neither 
help  ourselves  nor  others.  Let  us  by  all  means  go 
into  any  wise  league  or  covenant  among  nations  to 
abolish  neutrality  (for,  of  course,  a  league  to  enforce 
peace  is  merely  another  name  for  a  league  to  abolish 
neutrality  in  every  possible  war).  But  let  us  first 
understand  what  we  are  promising,  and  count  the 
cost  and  determine  to  keep  our  promises.  Above  all, 
let  us  treat  any  such  agreement  or  covenant  as  a 
mere  addition  to,  and  never  as  a  substitute  for,  the 
preparation  in  advance  of  our  own  armed  power. 
Next  time  we  behave  with  the  ignoble  folly  we  have 
shown  during  the  last  four  years  we  may  not  find 
allies  to  do  what  France  and  England  and  Italy  have 
done  for  us.  They  have  protected  us  with  their 
navies  and  armies,  their  blood  and  their  treasure, 
while  we  first  refused  to  do  anything  and  then  slowly 
and  reluctantly  began  to  harden  and  make  ready 
our  giant  but  soft  and  lazy  strength. 

No  proper  scheme  designed  to  secure  peace  with 
out  effort  and  safety  without  service  and  sacrifice 
will  either  make  this  country  safe  or  enable  it  to  do 
its  international  duty  toward  others. 

An  American  citizen,  personally  unknown  to  me, 
writes  me  that  his  three  sons  entered  the  army  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war,  and  that  one  of  them,  an 
aviator,  was  killed  in  battle  at  the  front  just  two 
weeks  before  my  own  son  was  killed  as  he  fought  in 
the  air.  In  his  letter  my  correspondent  adds: 


196  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Would  that  my  country  might  learn  and  never  forget  that 
not  only  the  winning  of  peace  now,  but  the  maintenance  of 
peace  at  all  times  depends  not  fundamentally  on  treaties  or 
leagues  of  nations,  but  on  the  readiness  of  citizens  to  fly  to 
the  aid  of  the  wronged  and  to  give  their  lives  if  need  be  that 
justice  may  be  secured. 

There  speaks  the  true  American  spirit  which  holds 
fast  alike  to  fearlessness  and  to  wisdom,  to  gentle 
ness  and  to  iron  resolution.  There  speaks  the  spirit 
of  that  fervent  nationalism  which  would  forbid 
America  either  to  inflict  or  to  endure  wrong. 


THE  MAN  WHO  PAYS  AND  THE  MAN 

WHO  PROFITS 

AUGUST  9,  1918 

THE  men  who  do  the  fighting  at  the  front  and  their 
mothers  and  wives  back  here  are  those  who  in  this 
great  and  terrible  crisis  are  paying  —  the  blood  of 
the  men  and  the  tears  of  the  women,  and  with  the 
suffering  of  men,  women,  and  children  —  for  our 
failure  to  prepare  during  the  two  and  a  half  years 
before  we  entered  the  World  War.  For  this  failure  to 
prepare,  in  spite  of  the  most  vivid  warning  ever 
given  a  Nation,  the  warning  that  befell  the  rest  of 
the  world  during  those  two  and  a  half  years,  the  pro 
fessed  pacifists  and  the  politicians  who  pandered  to 
them  are  more  responsible  than  any  one  else,  except 
the  pro-Germans.  If,  when  the  World  War  broke 
out,  or  at  latest  when  the  Lusitania  was  sunk,  we  had 
done  our  plain  duty,  we  had  then  begun  to  build 


THE  MAN  WHO  PAYS  197 

ships,  field  cannon  and  airplanes,  and  to  train  men 
exactly  as  we  have  been  doing  during  the  last  year 
and  a  quarter,  except  that  we  should  have  done  the 
work  on  a  larger  scale  with  more  efficiency  and  with 
much  less  waste  and  extravagance.  Remember  that 
failure  to  provide  great  numbers  of  cannon  and  air 
planes  means  that  the  infantry  has  to  pay  for  it  with 
a  huge  increase  of  slaughter.  All  the  guns  and  air 
planes  we  left  unbuilt  during  the  first  three  years  of 
the  war  has  meant  so  much  more  bloodshed,  so  many 
more  Americans  killed  and  crippled,  not  to  speak  of 
the  tremendous  loss  of  life  to  our  allies.  Moreover, 
when  men  in  small  numbers  are  put  into  battle,  when 
only  a  few  hundred  thousand  are  forced  to  suffer 
heavy  loss  in  doing  work  which  two  or  three  million 
men  could  have  accomplished  speedily  and  thor 
oughly  and  with  very  little  loss,  the  responsibility 
rests  on  those  who  prevented  the  preparation  in 
•advance.  If  we  had  built  quantities  of  ships  and 
trained  large  numbers  of  men  in  advance,  the  World 
War  would  have  ended  almost  as  soon  as  we  entered, 
and  an  infinite  amount  of  bloodshed  would  have  been 
prevented. 

The  best  roll  of  our  army  overseas  is  the  American 
roll  of  honor.  These  men  have  paid  with  their  bodies 
for  the  safety  of  this  Nation  in  the  present  and  the 
future.  They  have  died,  and  by  their  death  have 
earned  for  the  rest  of  us  the  right  to  hold  our  heads 
high  with  pride.  But  it  is  no  less  true  that  their 
blood  has  been  shed,  but  their  gallant  lives  have  been 
spent  because  we  did  not  prepare  in  advance.  We 


198  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

did  not  prepare  because  our  people  were  misled.  For 
this  misleading  of  the  people  the  professional  prof 
iteers  share  the  responsibility  with  the  pro-Ger 
mans,  with  sham  sentimentalists,  with  the  sordid, 
short-sighted  materialists,  and  with  all  the  politi 
cians,  publicists,  and  private  citizens,  rich  or  poor, 
whose  vanity  or  folly  or  self-interest  profited  thereby. 
We  ought  not  to  remember  this  in  any  spirit  of  re 
venge,  but  most  certainly,  unless  we  are  worse  than 
foolish,  we  shall  remember  it  and  other  warnings  to 
teach  us  how  to  behave  in  the  future,  and  as  a  very 
stern  warning  against  again  trusting  to  the  leader 
ship  of  the  men  thus  responsible  for  the  deaths  of 
so  many  fine  and  fearless  young  Americans. 

Most  of  the  men  who  are  misled,  and  some  of  the 
men  who  misled  them,  have  come  frankly  forward 
to  admit  their  error.  What  is  even  more  important, 
most  of  them  have  made  the  real  atonement  of  deeds. 
They  have,  if  young,  themselves  gone  into  the  army, 
and  if  not  young  have  sent  their  sons  or  permitted 
them  to  go  into  the  army  and  fight  in  freedom's  be 
lated  battle.  All  these  men  are  paying  their  share  of 
the  joint  payment  in  blood  of  the  Nation.  They  are 
to  be  heartily  respected.  They  are  not  seeking  to 
profit  by  the  valor  and  blood  of  others. 

So  much  for  the  men  who  pay;  now  for  the  men 
who  profit.  Some  of  these  men  profit  in  money.  If 
such  profit  is  excessive  it  is  iniquitous.  But  a  proper 
money  profit  is  absolutely  necessary,  for  no  business 
can  be  permanent  without  profit  any  more  than  a 
working-man  can  permanently  work  without  wages. 


THE  MAN  WHO  PAYS  199 

The  unpardonable  profit  is  that  of  the  man,  espe 
cially  the  rich  man,  who,  having  preached  pacifism 
and  unpreparedness,  now,  when  war  comes,  sees 
brave  men  face  a  death  which  pacifism  and  unpre 
paredness  have  made  infinitely  more  probable  while 
he  himself  and  his  sons  profit  by  these  other  men's 
courage  and  sit  at  home  in  the  ease  and  safety  se 
cured  by  the  fact  that  these  others  face  death.  The 
worst  profiteers  in  this  country  are  the  men  and  the 
sons  of  the  men  who  decline  to  face  the  death  which 
their  own  actions  have  made  more  probable  for 
others. 

Unless  in  exceptional  cases  there  is  no  need  to 
discuss  individuals  in  private  life.  But  when  a  man 
seeks  public  office,  it  becomes  a  duty  to  discuss  his 
record.  Mr.  Henry  Ford  is  a  candidate  for  United 
States  Senator  in  Michigan.  No  man  in  this  country 
strove  harder  in  the  cause  of  pacifism  and  unpre 
paredness  than  he  did  during  the  vital  two  years  and 
a  half  before  this  country  went  to  war.  He  received 
the  cordial  applause  of  the  peace-at-any-price  people 
who  were  themselves,  of  course,  efficiently  playing 
the  pro-German  game.  He  is  a  multi-millionaire.  If 
any  of  his  kin  are  killed,  their  families  are  not 
merely  guarded  against  poverty,  but  are  sure  of 
wealth.  The  son  of  Mr.  Ford  ought  to  feel  it  ab 
solutely  obligatory  on  him  to  go  to  the  war.  There 
is  not  in  this  country  any  other  man  who  ought  to 
feel  it  more  honorably  necessary  to  pay  with  his 
body,  if  necessary,  to  atone  with  his  life  for  the 
dreadful  wrong  done  this  country  by  the  preachers  of 


200  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

pacifism  and  unpreparedness  during  the  two  years 
and  a  half  that  preceded  our  entry  into  the  war.  Yet 
it  is  announced  in  the  press  that  Mr.  Ford's  son  has 
obtained  exemption  from  military  service  and  is 
employed  in  the  money-making  business  of  his 
wealthy  father. 

Mr.  Ford's  proper  place  is  on  the  mourner's  bench 
and  not  at  the  council  board  of  the  Nation. 


OUR  DEBT  TO  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE 

AUGUST  16,  1918 

JUDGE  BEN  LINDSEY  has  recently  written  two  or 
three  striking  pieces  about  what  Great  Britain  has 
done  and  is  doing  in  this  war.  Incidentally  he  points 
out  how  far  ahead  of  us  she  now  is  in  certain  types 
of  social  legislation,  such  as  that  dealing  with 
children.  But  the  lesson  he  inculcates  which  is  of 
most  immediate  concern  is  the  giant  part  England 
has  played  in  this  war  and  the  debt  we  owe  to  her 
because,  in  standing  up  for  Belgium  and  France,  she 
was  really  defending  us  during  our  days  of  folly  when 
we  followed  the  lead  of  our  worst  enemies,  the  paci 
fists  and  pro-Germans. 

The  English  pacifists  are,  if  anything,  even  more 
silly  than  our  own.  They  did  their  best  to  make 
England  keep  out  of  this  war.  If  they  had  succeeded 
the  British  Empire  would  for  a  few  years  have  trod 
the  broad,  smooth  road  of  peaceful  and  greedy  in 
famy  .and  would  then  have  tumbled  into  the  bottom- 


OUR  DEBT  TO  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE    201 

less  pit  of  utter  destruction.  But  in  August,  1914, 
Great  Britain  and  the  gallant  overseas  common 
wealths  which  share  her  empire  chose  the  hard  path 
of  immediate  danger,  of  ultimate  safety,  and  of  high 
heroism.  Thereby  they  saved  their  own  souls  and 
the  bodies  of  their  children,  and  in  so  doing  rendered 
an  inestimable  service  to  us. 

England  has  raised  an  immense  army  which  has 
fought  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  If  it  were  not 
for  this  army  even  the  highly  trained  valor  of  the 
French  could  not  have  averted  German  victory.  At 
the  same  time  the  British  fleet  has  kept  the  seas  free 
for  the  food  and  coal  and  munitions  needed  for  the 
Allied  people  and  armies  and  has  furnished  the  trans 
ports  necessary  to  enable  us  to  put  under  Pershing  a 
force  large  enough  to  be  of  real  consequence  in  the 
vitally  important  battle  which  has  been  raging  for 
the  last  thirty  days.  If  Great  Britain  had  not  been 
far-sighted  enough  to  realize  what  her  own  welfare 
demanded  when  France  was  invaded,  and  if  she  had 
not  been  stirred  to  noble  indignation  by  the  Belgian 
horror,  the  whole  civilized  world  would  now  have 
been  cowering  under  the  brutal  dominion  of  Ger 
many.  If  she  had  not  controlled  the  seas,  not  an 
American  battalion  could  have  been  sent  to  the  aid 
of  France  as  she  struggled  to  save  the  soul  of  the 
world,  and  no  help  could  have  been  given  gallant 
Italy  or  any  others  of  these  Allied  nations  to  whose 
stern  fighting  efficiency  we  owe  it  that  this  earth  is 
still  a  place  on  which  free  men  can  live. 

We  must  stand  by  Great  Britain  precisely  as  we 


202  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

stand  by  our  other  allies  —  in  the  first  place,  by 
waging  the  war  with  all  our  strength,  and  in  the 
next  place  by  seeing  that  the  peace  is  of  a  kind  which 
justifies  them  for  all  the  sacrifices  they  have  made. 
One  item  in  waging  the  war  ought  to  be  insistence 
that  every  American  of  fighting  age  who  resides  in 
the  British  Empire  and  every  Englishman  of  fight 
ing  age  who  resides  in  the  United  States  be  invari 
ably  put  in  either  the  British  or  the  American  armies. 
One  item  in  making  peace  ought  to  be  insistence  that 
Britain  keep  every  colony  she  has  conquered  from 
Germany,  both  in  the  South  Seas  and  in  Africa. 
Germany  has  behaved  abominably  in  Africa.  The 
course  Germany  has  followed  in  Africa  has  made  her 
a  menace  of  evil  to  the  Boer  and  British  Africanders, 
and  to  return  to  her  the  colonies  which  have  been 
taken  from  her,  whether  in  Africa  or  Asia,  by 
Australia  or  Great  Britain,  or  by  France  or  Japan  or 
Belgium,  would  be  a  crime  against  civilization. 


THE  CANDIDACY  OF  HENRY  FORD, 
AUGUST  20,  1918 

EVERY  loyal  American  citizen  in  Michigan  should 
read  the  last  two  numbers  of  Mr.  George  Harvey's 
War  Weekly.  In  these  numbers  there  are  quotations 
from  Mr.  Henry  Ford's  speeches  made  two  years  ago 
and  again  since  we  entered  the  war.  Mr.  Ford  has 
not  questioned  the  accuracy  of  these  quotations 
given  by  Mr.  Harvey., 


THE  CANDIDACY  OF  HENRY  FORD    203 

Speaking  of  American  flags  over  his  own  factory 
Mr.  Ford  said:  "  I  don't  believe  in  the  flag.  When 
the  war  is  over  these  flags  shall  come  down  never  to 
go  up  again." 

The  Sedition  Act,  approved  by  President  Wilson, 
inflicts  a  maximum  punishment  of  twenty  years  in 
the  penitentiary  for  any  man  who,  while  we  are  at 
war,  utters  "  language  intended  to  bring  the  flag 
of  the  United  States  into  contempt  or  disrepute." 
During  the  last  year  many  poor  and  ignorant  men 
have  been  convicted  and  sentenced  for  using  lan 
guage  thus  forbidden  by  law.  In  my  view  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Ford  is  an  enormously  wealthy  man  ought 
not  to  give  him  immunity  from  the  law  if  he  cannot 
show  that  he  did  not  use  the  la'nguage  quoted  in  the 
War  Weekly.  But  whether  or  not  amenable  to  the 
law,  no  patriotic  American  can  afford  to  put  in  the 
Senate,  perhaps  to  help  negotiate  the  peace  treaty,  a 
man  who  announces  that  as  soon  as  peace  comes  he 
wishes  to  haul  down  the  American  flag  and  never 
again  to  hoist  it.  To  send  such  a  man  to  the  Senate 
professing  such  sentiments  under  existing  conditions 
would  give  the  enemy  a  wholly  wrong  idea  of  the 
pacifist  sentiment  in  our  country.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  world  which  would  now  help  Germany  as 
much,  or  give  her  so  much  heart  in  her  struggle  for 
the  overthrow  of  liberty  and  democracy  as  the  belief 
that  men  professing  such  sentiments  would  have  part 
in  the  peace  negotiations  on  behalf  of  this  country. 

Among  the  further  utterances  of  Mr.  Ford  (as 
given  in  the  War  Weekly)  is  one  that  he  does  "  not 


204  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

believe  in  patriotism  "  and  that  he  does  not  care  any 
more  for  the  United  States  "  than  for  China  or 
Hindustan."  The  man  who  does  not  believe  in 
patriotism  is  not  fit  to  live  in  this  country,  still  less 
to  represent  it  in  the  Senate.  If  these  words  of  Mr. 
Ford  mean  anything,  then  Mr.  Ford  is  unpatriotic 
and  has  no  more  right  to  sit  in  the  United  States 
Senate  than  a  Hindu  or  a  Chinaman.  Unless  Mr. 
Ford  can  show  that  he  never  uttered  these  words  no 
man  worthy  to  be  called  an  American,  and  least  of 
all  any  religious  or  patriotic  man,  can  afford  to 
support  him  for  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Ford  has  been  given  immensely  valuable  war 
contracts  of  the  Government.  No  doubt  he  has  ex 
ecuted  them  as  well  as  the  thousands  of  other  con 
tractors  who  now  render  service  to  the  Government 
for  pay.  But  no  service  he  can  thus  render  the 
Government  can  offset  the  frightful  damage  he  did 
our  people  by  the  lavish  use  he  made  of  his  enormous 
wealth  in  a  gigantic  and  profoundly  anti-American 
propaganda  against  preparedness  and  against  our 
performance  of  international  duty  during  the  two 
and  a  half  years  before  we  entered  the  war.  This 
crusade  against  righteousness  included  the  sending 
of  the  ridiculous  "  peace  ship  "  to  Europe.  This 
particular  manifestation  was  too  absurd  even  to  do 
harm,  but  so  far  as  it  had  any  effect  at  all  it  encour 
aged  Germany  to  believe  that  we  were  as  neutral 
between  right  and  wrong  as  Pontius,  and  that  as  far 
as  we  were  concerned  she  could  safely  proceed  with 
wrongdoing  because  we  held  the  scales  of  judgment 


THE  CANDIDACY  OF  HENRY  FORD    205 

even  between  the  wrongdoer  and  his  victim.  The 
crusade  also  included  an  extraordinary  series  of 
advertisements  issued  long  after  the  Lusitania  was 
sunk,  in  which  Mr.  Ford  violently  opposed  and  de 
nounced  preparedness,  advocated  and  approved  the 
McLemore  resolutions,  and  announced  that  it  was 
our  duty  to  keep  out  of  war;  and  not  merely  himself 
kept  silent  about  the  wrongdoing  of  Germany,  but 
assailed  those  who  set  forth  this  wrongdoing  on  the 
ground  that  they  "  had  bred  racial  hatred  by  the 
printing  of  incendiary  news  stories  and  articles." 
It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  this  propaganda  did 
not  do  more  damage  to  the  American  people  than 
the  propaganda  carried  on  at  the  same  time  by 
Ambassador  Bernstorff. 

If  we  had  seen  our  duty  and  had  fully  prepared 
during  these  two  and  a  half  years,  either  we  would 
never  have  had  to  enter  the  war  or  we  would  have 
brought  it  to  a  close  immediately  after  we  entered  it. 
The  best  and  bravest  of  the  young  men  of  the  Nation 
are  now  paying  with  their  blood  for  our  unprepared- 
ness  and  therefore  for  the  pacific  propaganda  quite 
as  much  as  for  the  pro-German  propaganda  carried 
on  in  this  country  during  the  two  and  a  half  years 
before  we  entered  the  war.  But  wealthy  Mr.  Ford's 
son  is  not  among  these  men.  He  is  of  draft  age.  He 
applied  for  exemption.  The  local  board  refused  his 
application.  He  applied  to  the  President.  The 
President  did  not  act  for  two  months.  Then  the 
revised  draft  regulations  were  promulgated,  and  Mr. 
Ford  was  excepted  under  the  deferred  or  exempted 


206  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

class  which  included  a  married  man  with  a  child, 
however  wealthy  that  man  might  be.  He  has  exer 
cised  his  legal  right.  Very  many  thousands  of  young 
Americans,  men  of  small  means  who  are  not  sons  of 
multi-millionaires,  have  declined  to  take  advantage 
of  this  legal  right.  They  have  left  their  wives  and 
babies  to  go  to  war  for  a  great  ideal,  for  love  of 
country,  for  love  of  liberty  and  of  civilization.  But 
Mr.  Ford's  son  stays  at  home.  These  other  young 
Americans  face  death  and  endure  unspeakable  hard 
ships  and  misery  and  fatigue  for  the  sake  of  America 
and  have  surrendered  all  hope  of  money-getting,  of 
comfort  and,  of  safety.  But  young  Mr.  Ford,  in  ease 
and  safety,  is  in  the  employ  of  his  wealthy  father. 

In  private  relations  I  understand  that  Mr.  Ford 
is  an  amiable  man.  But  I  am  not  dealing  with  him  in 
his  private  relations.  I  am  discussing  him  as  a  candi 
date  for  high  office.  We  are  bound  truthfully  to  set 
forth  what  we  believe  will  be  the  effect  of  his  elec 
tion,  and  therefore  we  are  bound  to  say  that  it 
would  be  damaging  to  the  United  States  and  would 
be  encouraging  to  Germany.  No  patriotic  American 
should  support  Mr.  Ford. 

SPEED   UP  THE  WORK   FOR  THE  ARMY 

AND  GIVE  ALL  WHO  ENTER  IT 

FAIR  PLAY 

AUGUST  23,  1918 

OUR  Government  must  learn  that  needless  delay  is 
worse  than  a  blunder.  We  are  sending  troops  to 


SPEED  UP  THE  WORK  FOR  THE  ARMY    207 

Siberia.  This  is  good,  but  it  would  have  been  ten 
times  better  to  have  sent  them  last  spring  when  the 
need  was  precisely  as  evident  as  it  is  now.  The  Ad 
ministration  is  now  preparing  to  ask  Congress  to 
arrange  for  putting  between  three  and  four  million 
men  in  France  by  next  July.  Six  months  ago  our  best 
military  advisers  and  our  most  far-sighted  civilian 
leaders  were  urging  that  we  prepare  to  put  five 
million  men  in  France  by  next  March.  The  delay 
has  been  absolutely  needless  and  may  be  very  harm 
ful.  When  last  spring  the  demand  for  five  million 
men  was  being  incessantly  urged,  President  Wilson 
treated  it  as  merely  a  case  for  competitive  rhetoric, 
and  asked,  with  dramatic  effect,  why  we  should 
limit  the  number  at  all.  But  he  actually  has  limited 
it  to  a  much  smaller  number  at  a  much  later  date. 
Therefore  let  there  at  least  be  no  further  delay.  And 
above  all  let  us  not  be  misled  by  the  persons  who  say 
that  Germany  will  make  peace  before  next  spring. 
Our  business  is  to  act  on  the  assumption  that  we 
shall  have  to  put  forth  our  utmost  effort  next  spring 
and  not  to  take  any  unnecessary  chances. 

The  Government  is  now  very  properly  proposing 
to  enlarge  the  draft  age  limits  to  include  all  the  men 
of  fighting  age,  all  the  men  of  the  ages  which  fur 
nished  the  enormous  majority  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
Civil  War.  The  number  of  men  in  the  excepted 
classes  should  be  greatly  reduced.  There  are  too 
many  exceptions.  It  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that 
the  plan  will  include  the  institution  of  universal 
obligatory  military  training  of  all  our  young  men 


208  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

of  eighteen  to  twenty  years  old  as  a  permanent 
policy. 

But  we  ought  not  to  adopt  the  plan  recently 
proposed  for  special  advantages  to  be  given  by  the 
Government  to  young  men  who  go  to  college  and 
take  certain  special  courses  with  a  view  to  becoming 
officers.  This  would  amount  to  giving  a  special 
privilege  to  persons  with  money  enough  to  send  their 
boys  to  college  in  order  to  have  them  escape  the 
draft  and  secure  commissions.  This  is  not  fair.  It 
means  giving  a  privilege  to  money.  There  is  no 
excuse  for  giving  such  a  preference  to  young  men  of 
eighteen  or  nineteen  at  this  time  when  we  have  been 
at  war  eighteen  months.  There  is  still  need  to  give 
some  of  the  older  men  a  special  chance  to  train.  But 
there  is  no  such  need  in  the  case  of  men  under 
twenty-one. 

There  was  every  reason  of  sound  public  policy  at 
the  outset  of  the  war  to  take  advantage  of  the  fore 
thought  and  self-denial  of  the  young  men  who  at  the 
Plattsburg  and  similar  camps  had  at  their  own  ex 
pense  prepared  themselves  before  the  war  began,  and 
when,  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  Government  to  do 
its  duty,  they  were  the  only  men  who  did  prepare. 
There  has  been  good  reason  for  similar  camps  for 
young  men  during  the  last  eighteen  months  before 
our  general  training  camps  began  to  show  their  full 
results.  But  from  now  on  every  young  officer  should 
be  chosen  on  his  merits  from  the  men  who  enter  the 
army  in  the  ranks.  Only  the  men  who  show  their 
fitness,  by  whatever  tests  are  deemed  necessary 


:  SENATOR  LODGE'S  NOBLE  SPEECH     209 

after  service  in  the  ranks,  should  be  sent  to  officers' 
schools,  and  money  should  play  no  part  whatever  in 
the  matter. 


SENATOR  LODGE'S  NOBLE  SPEECH 

SEPTEMBER  i,  1918 

SENATOR  LODGE'S  speech  dealing  with  the  principles 
for  which  we  are  fighting  and  setting  forth  in  detailed 
outline  the  kind  of  peace  which  alone  will  mean  the 
peace  of  victory  was  a  really  noble  speech.  Nothing 
is  easier,  and  from  the  national  standpoint  as  dis 
tinguished  from  the  standpoint  of  personal  benefit  to 
the  speaker,  nothing  is  less  useful  than  a  speech  of 
such  glittering  generalities  that  almost  anybody  can 
interpret  it  in  almost  any  manner.  Only  a  great 
statesman  possesses  the  courage,  the  knowledge,  and 
the  power  of  expression  to  set  forth  in  convincing 
fashion  the  detailed  statement  of  the  objects  which 
must  be  attained  if  such  a  war  as  that  in  which  we 
are  engaged  is  to  be  crowned  by  a  peace  wholly 
worth  the  terrible  cost  of  life  and  happiness  caused 
by  the  war.  This  is  the  service  which  Senator  Lodge 
has  rendered  to  this  Nation  and  to  our  allies. 

From  time  to  time  in  our  history  the  Senate  has 
rendered  services  of  exceptional  magnitude  to  the 
Nation.  Never  in  our  history  has  it  rendered  greater 
service  than  during  the  last  nine  months.  The  great 
est  men  who  have  ever  sat  in  it,  men  such  as  Clay 
and  Webster  and  Calhoun  and  Benton,  did  not 


210  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

stand  forth  in  leadership  more  clearly  than  a  dozen 
of  the  Senators  who,  during  the  last  nine  months, 
have  fearlessly  and  disinterestedly  borne  the  burden 
of  speeding  up  the  war  and  endeavoring  to  place  our 
international  relations  on  exactly  the  right  lines. 

These  leaders  have  in  actual  fact  adjourned 
politics.  They  have  considered  only  their  patriotic 
duty  in  all  matters  concerning  this  war  and  our  rela 
tions  with  our  allies  and  our  enemies.  The  most 
efficient  service  toward  speeding  up  the  war  and 
enabling  this  Nation  to  do  its  duty  that  has  been 
rendered  by  any  civilian  public  servants  of  the 
Nation  is  the  service  rendered  by  Senator  Chamber 
lain  and  the  Senators,  both  Democrats  and  Repub 
licans,  who  acted  with  him  on  the  Military  Affairs 
Committee  in  the  investigation  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  last  winter.  Within  the  last  fortnight  a  service 
of  similar  character  has  been  rendered  by  Senator 
Thomas  and  his  associates  in  both  parties  on  the  sub 
committee  which  has  at  last  put  before  the  people 
the  truth  about  the  breakdown  of  our  aircraft 
programme.  The  fact  that  this  summer  we  have  put 
masses  of  armed  men  into  France  is  primarily  due 
to  Senator  Chamberlain  and  the  Senators  of  both 
parties  who  have  acted  with  him.  The  fact  that 
next  summer  we  shall  at  last  back  up  American 
troops  with  American  airplanes  will  be  due  primarily 
to  Senator  Thomas  and  his  associates. 


APPLIED  PATRIOTISM  211 

APPLIED   PATRIOTISM 

SEPTEMBER  8,  1918 

THE  official  record  of  the  Illinois  branch  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America  furnishes  an  in 
structive  lesson  in  applied  patriotism.  The  presi 
dent  of  the  branch  is  Mr.  Frank  Farrington.  The 
United  Mine  Workers  are  affiliated  with  the  Ameri 
can  Federation  of  Labor. 

President  Farrington's  circulars  to  the  Illinois 
mine  workers  set  forth  the  need  and  the  justice  of 
this  war  and  the  duty  of  patriotic  Americans  in  the 
most  straightforward  and  clear-cut  fashion.  He 
states  that  this  is  the  war  for  liberty  and  humanity 
and  for  American  rights,  and  that  there  rests  "  upon 
every  American  and  upon  every  man  who  has  par 
taken  of  America's  bounty  the  solemn  obligation  of 
loyally  doing  their  part  to  win  victory  for  the  cause 
America  represents."  He  promises  the  mine  workers 
that  their  rights  shall  be  protected  and  secured,  but 
insists  that  they  shall  lend  every  energy  to  increase 
the  output  of  coal  so  as  to  help  our  army  at  the  front, 
which,  as  he  finely  says,  includes  "  sons  of  the  rich 
and  sons  of  the  poor  men  who  love  life  as  one,  but 
who  prefer  death  to  life  without  liberty  and  who 
have  made  common  cause  and  entered  the  lists  in 
answer  to  the  Nation's  need." 

The  improper  practices  are  specifically  pointed 
out  and  condemned,  such  as  shutting  down  mines  in 
violation  of  agreement  in  order  to  force  some  desired 


212  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

condition,  or  making  improper  restrictions  to  curtail 
production.  The  appeal  is  solemnly  made  to,  and  on 
behalf  of,  the  miners'  union  that  there  must  be  full 
service  to  the  Nation  and  no  shirking  of  duty,  and 
that  no  agreement  into  which  the  union  enters  shall 
be  treated  as  a  scrap  of  paper,  but  shall  be  in  good 
faith  fulfilled.  President  Farrington  in  his  official 
circulars  lays  constantly  increasing  stress  upon  the 
seriousness  of  the  obligation  resting  upon  the  miners 
to  aid  and  sustain  the  Allied  armies  in  their  fight  for 
the  freedom  of  humanity  by  hard,  steady  work  and 
by  increasing  the  output  of  coal.  He  condemns  with 
genuine  loftiness  of  feeling  and  expression  all  who 
fail  to  give  the  utmost  help  to  the  men  who  at  the 
front  are  doing  so  much  and  suffering  so  much. 

The  Illinois  mine  workers  number  about  ninety 
thousand  members.  They  are  divided  into  three 
hundred  and  twenty  local  unions.  Of  these  I  have 
figures  from  only  one  hundred  and  twenty.  They 
have  sent  over  four  thousand  men  into  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  United  States,  have  purchased  over  two 
million  dollars'  worth  of  Liberty  bonds,  $700,000  of 
War  Savings  Stamps,  and  have  contributed  over 
$90,000  to  the  Red  Cross  and  over  $20,000  to  other 
war  funds. 

The  Illinois  mine  workers  have  made  a  fine  show 
ing  in  applied  patriotism. 


GOOD  LUCK  TO  THE  ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS  213 

GOOD  LUCK  TO  THE  ANTI -BOLSHEVISTS 
OF  KANSAS 

SEPTEMBER  12,  1918 

THE  absolute  prerequisite  for  successful  self-govern 
ment  in  any  people  is  the  power  of  self-restraint 
which  refuses  to  follow  either  the  wild-eyed  extrem 
ists  of  radicalism  or  the  dull-eyed  extremists  of 
reaction.  Either  set  of  extremists  will  wreck  the 
Nation  just  as  certainly  as  the  other.  The  Nation 
capable  of  self-government  must  show  the  Abraham 
Lincoln  quality  of  refusing  to  go  with  either.  The 
dreadful  fall  which  has  befallen  Russia  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  when  her  people  cast  off  the  tyranny  of  the 
autocracy,  they  did  not  have  sufficient  self-control 
and  common  sense  to  avoid  rushing  into  the  gulf  of 
Bolshevist  anarchy. 

In  this  country  there  are  plenty  of  highbrow 
Bolsheviki  who  like  to  think  of  themselves  as  intel 
lectuals,  and  who  in  parlors  and  at  pink  teas  preach 
Bolshevism  as  a  fad.  They  are  fatuously  ignorant 
that  it  may  be  a  dangerous  fad.  Some  of  them 
are  mere  make-believe,  sissy  Bolsheviki,  almost  or 
quite  harmless.  Others  are  sincere  and  foolish  fa 
natics,  who  mean  well  and  who  do  not  realize  that 
their  doctrines  tend  toward  moral  disintegration. 
But  there  are  practical  Bolsheviki  in  this  country 
who  are  in  no  sense  highbrows.  The  I.W.W.  and  the 
Non-Partisan  League,  just  as  long  and  so  far  as 
its  members  submit  to  the  dominion  of  leaders  like 


214  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Mr.  Townley,  represent  the  forces  that  under  Lenine 
and  Trotzky  have  brought  ruin  to  Russia.  If  these 
organizations  obtained  power  here,  they  would  cast 
this  country  into  the  same  abyss  with  Russia. 

The  I.W.W.  activities  may  have  been  officially  set 
forth  by  the  Chicago  jury  which  found  the  I.W.W. 
leaders  guilty  of  treasonable  practices.  These  leaders 
protested  that  they  were  only  trying  to  help  "  the 
wage  slave  of  to-day,"  and  had  not  taken  German 
money.  But  the  jury  found  them  guilty  as  charged. 
The  American  people,  when  fully  awake  and  aroused, 
will  tolerate  neither  treason  nor  anarchy.  No 
Americans  are  more  patriotic  than  the  honest 
American  labor  men,  and  these  above  all  had  cause 
to  rejoice  in  the  verdict.  Undoubtedly  there  are 
plenty  of  poor  ignorant  men  who  join  the  I.W.W. 
because  they  feel  they  do  not  receive  justice.  We 
should  all  of  us  actively  unite  in  the  effort  to  right 
any  wrongs  from  which  these  men  suffer.  But  we 
should  set  our  faces  like  flint  against  such  criminal 
leadership  as  that  of  the  I.W.W. 

The  Non- Partisan  League  endeavored  to  ally 
itself  with  the  I.W.W.  since  we  entered  the  war. 
When  the  League  was  started,  I  felt  much  sympathy 
with  its  avowed  purposes.  I  hope  for  and  shall  wel 
come  wisely  radical  action  on  behalf  of  the  farmer. 
But  only  destruction  to  all  of  us  can  come  from  the 
venomous  class  hatred  preached  by  the  present 
leadership  of  the  League.  Some  of  its  leaders  have 
been  convicted  and  imprisoned  for  treasonable 
activities.  Some  of  the  League's  representatives 


GOOD  LUCK  TO  THE  ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS  215 

have  been  actively  pro-Germans.  Some  are  Social 
ists  or  Socialist-Anarchists.  For  the  first  six  months 
of  the  war  and  until  it  became  too  dangerous,  they 
were  openly  against  the  war,  against  our  allies,  and 
for  Germany.  The  only  half-secret  alliance  between 
these  leaders  and  certain  high  Democratic  politicians 
is  deeply  discreditable  to  the  latter.  The  victory  of 
the  League  in  its  recent  efforts  to  gain  control  of  the 
Republican  Party  in  Minnesota  and  Montana  would 
have  given  immense  strength  to  the  pro-German  and 
Bolshevist  element  throughout  the  country  and  its 
defeat  was  a  matter  of  rejoicing  to  all  right-minded 
and  patriotic  men. 

Mr.  Townley's  leadership  in  its  moral  purpose  and 
national  effect  entitles  him  to  rank  with  Messrs. 
Lenine  and  Trotzky,  and  the  utterances  of  the 
League's  official  organ,  especially  in  its  appeals  to 
class  hatred,  puts  the  official  representatives  of  the 
League  squarely  in  the  clan  with  the  Bolshevist 
leaders  who  have  done  such  evil  in  Russia. 

I  have  before  me  an  official  letter  from  the  League 
written  in  January  last  refusing  to  cooperate  in  non- 
political  work  for  the  benefit  of  the  farmers,  saying, 
'  This  organization  is  a  political  one,  the  farmers 
being  organized  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  legis 
lation  in  their  own  interests."  In  other  words,  the 
title,  Non- Partisan,  is  a  piece  of  pure  hypocrisy,  and 
its  league  is  really  partisan  in  the  narrowest  and 
worst  sense.  Americans  should  organize  politically 
as  Americans  and  not  as  bankers,  or  lawyers,  or 
farmers,  or  wage- workers.  To  organize  politically  on 


2i6  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

the  basis  adopted  by  the  League  is  thoroughly  anti- 
American  and  unpatriotic,  and  if  copied  generally 
by  our  citizens,  would  mean  the  creation  in  this 
country  of  rival  political  parties  based  on  cynically 
brutal  class  selfishness. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
members  of  the  League  are  good,  honest  people  who 
have  been  misled.  I  am  certain  that  there  has  been 
much  neglect  of  the  rights  of  the  farmers  and  that 
it  is  a  high  duty  for  this  country  to  begin  a  con 
structive,  practical  agricultural  policy.  But  no  good 
American  can  support  the  League  while  it  is  domi 
nated  by  its  present  leadership.  The  Kansans  who 
have  joined  to  fight  the  League  because  it  represents 
Bolshevism  are  rendering  a  patriotic  service  to 
America. 


THE  FOURTH  LIBERTY  LOAN 

SEPTEMBER  17,  1918 

THE  Government  of  the  United  States  is  asking  us 
Americans,  is  asking  us,  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  to  subscribe  to  the  Fourth  Liberty  Loan,  a 
bigger  loan  than  any  yet  issued.  It  is  our  duty  to 
back  up  the  Government  by  floating  the  loan.  More 
over,  the  performance  of  this  duty  should  be  treated 
by  us  as  a  high  privilege.  It  opens  to  us  a  fine  oppor 
tunity  to  put  our  shoulders  with  all  the  strength  we 
have  into  the  great  shove  which  is  pushing  the 
German  barrier  back  across  the  Rhine. 


THE  FOURTH  LIBERTY  LOAN          217 

The  Liberty  bonds  are  the  best  of  all  possible  in 
vestments.  Their  security  and  their  interest  returns 
give  them  a  peculiar  position.  Moreover,  every  one 
can  invest  in  big  or  little  amounts,  exactly  as  his 
resources  permit.  All  the  people  of  this  country  can 
now  become  bondholders  if  they  wish.  Therefore, 
all  investors  in  the  bonds  will  get  benefits,  but  what 
is  vastly  more  important,  they  will  give  benefits. 
They  will  therefore  render  service  to  the  country. 

We  Americans  are  not,  and  must  not  permit 
ourselves  to  become,  swayed  by  question  of  material 
gain  in  this  war.  We  must  think  primarily  of  our 
duties.  We  must  keep  our  minds  fixed  on  what  we 
owe  to  others,  and  what  we  owe  to  ourselves.  We 
owe  a  service  to  humanity.  Our  sons  and  brothers 
at  the  front  pay  this  service  in  blood.  The  rest  of  us 
must  pay  it  in  money. 

Commensurate  with  the  great  resources  and  un 
paralleled  prosperity  with  which  our  Nation  has  been 
blessed,  we  owe  all  the  more  because  for  three  years 
the  debt  accumulated,  while  other  nations  were  bear 
ing  the  burden  for  us.  We  thank  God  we  have  begun 
to  pay.  From  every  village  and  city  of  every  state 
the  best  of  our  young  men  are  streaming  across  the 
Atlantic  to  join  the  victorious  army  under  Foch  and 
Pershing.  The  men  and  women  of  America  are  keep 
ing  mill  and  shipyard  and  munition  factory  and  mine 
busy  to  the  limit,  so  that  the  troops  may  not  fail 
nor  the  supplies  on  which  they  depend  be  lacking. 

All  this  is  not  one  whit  more  than  we  ought  to  do; 
it  is  what  we  owe  to  the  world  and  owe  to  ourselves. 


2i8  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

We  are  glad  and  proud  to  do  it.  Let  us,  as  part  pay 
ment  of  our  great  debt,  subscribe  and  oversubscribe 
to  the  bonds  of  the  Fourth  Liberty  Loan.  This  is 
a  service  which  lies  within  the  ability  of  the  poorest 
of  us.  It  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of  every  right 
American.  Every  dollar  put  into  Liberty  loans  is  a 
dollar  working  for  the  downfall  of  the  system  of 
greed  and  treachery,  of  tyranny  and  callous  brutality 
which  has  drenched  the  world  in  blood. 

Americans  are  not  quitters.  The  Kaiser's  troops 
cannot  stop  our  men  at  the  front.  Nothing  must  be 
permitted  to  stop  the  flow  into  the  treasury  of  the 
money  with  which  we  back  up  these  men.  Sloth  and 
easy  living  have  no  place  in  America  now.  We  must 
give,  give  to  the  utmost.  If  putting  our  money  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Government  requires  us  to  work 
harder  and  live  more  simply,  we  shall  be  the  better 
for  it.  Let  us  buy  these  Liberty  bonds  to  the  utmost 
of  our  capacity  and  thereby  show  the  men  at  the 
front  that  the  people  at  home  will  back  them  to  the 
limit. 


FAIR  PLAY  AND   NO  POLITICS 

SEPTEMBER  20,  1918 

A  DEMOCRATIC  member  of  the  Senate  has  introduced 
a  resolution  to  investigate  the  primary  campaign 
expenses  of  certain  Republican  candidates  for  the 
Senate,  including  Commander  Truman  Newberry, 
whose  recent  triumph  over  Mr.  Henry  Ford  in  the 


FAIR  PLAY  AND  NO  POLITICS          219 

Michigan  Republican  primaries  was  greeted  with 
heartfelt  thanks  by  every  sincere  and  far-sighted 
American  patriot. 

This  Senate,  which  comes  to  an  end  on  March  4 
next,  has  the  same,  and  only  the  same  right  to  in 
vestigate  the  election  conduct  of  candidates  for  the 
Senate  which  comes  into  existence  on  March  4 
that  it  has  to  investigate  the  campaign  conduct  of 
any  other  candidates  for  office. 

Moreover,  any  such  proposed  investigation  under 
taken  on  the  eve  of  an  election  is  tainted  with  bad 
faith  unless  it  is  conducted  with  conspicuous  fairness 
and  impartiality  and  is  undertaken  at  once  so  that  it 
can  be  finished  at  least  a  month  before  the  elections. 
Personally,  I  shall  be  glad  if  the  election  expenses  or 
any  other  conduct  of  any  of  the  candidates  be  in 
vestigated,  provided  that  the  investigation  be  under 
taken  at  once  and  finished  within  the  next  fortnight, 
and  provided  that  it  be  entirely  impartial.  There 
fore,  it  must  deal  comprehensively  with  all  serious 
charges  affecting  the  desirability  of  candidates  as 
governmental  representatives  of  the  American  people 
at  this  time. 

If  the  men  backing  the  proposal  are  acting  in  good 
faith  they  will  investigate  Mr.  Ford's  record  on  the 
following  points  in  order  to  determine  his  fitness  to 
represent  patriotic  Americans  at  this  time.  They 
will  find  out  how  much  money  he  spent  on  the  peace 
ship,  and  on  his  lavishly  expensive  newspaper  adver 
tising  campaign  against  preparedness,  and  against 
our  standing  up  for  Belgium's  rights,  and  against 


220  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

our  taking  action  about  Germany's  sinking  the  Lusi- 
tania  and  her  other  assaults  on  us,  and  in  favor  of 
the  McLemore  resolution.  This  was  part  of  the 
great  pacifist  campaign  of  which  another  part,  as  our 
government  investigations  show,  was  financed  by 
the  German  authorities  themselves  or  by  their  affili 
ated  societies  in  this  country. 

The  investigation  should  include  Mr.  Ford's  con 
tributions  in  the  last  presidential  campaign  and  the 
names  of  the  candidates  he  supported,  for  his  politics 
seem  to  have  been  purely  personal  and  pacifist. 

Moreover,  the  investigation  should  include  a  full 
examination  of  the  justification  for  Mr.  Ford's  aiding 
and  abetting  his  son  Edsell  in  escaping  draft  and 
staying  at  home  when  the  great  majority  of  young 
Americans  of  his  age  are  eagerly  striving  for  places 
of  honor  and  peril  at  the  front.  Mr.  Ford  is  an  enor 
mously  wealthy  man.  Mr.  Newberry  is  not.  Mr. 
Newberry  himself  at  once  entered  the  military  serv 
ice  of  the  United  States.  His  two  sons  have  wives 
and  children,  but  they  immediately  entered  the 
service,  striving  eagerly  to  get  to  the  front.  Mr. 
Edsell  Ford  waited  until  he  was  drafted,  then  fought 
hard  for  an  exemption,  which  the  local  board  dis 
allowed.  He  succeeded,  however,  in  escaping  service 
and  is  at  home. 

Unless  the  investigation  takes  up  these  matters,  it 
will  be  stamped  with  the  stamp  of  unworthy  and  im 
proper  partisanship.  The  simple  truth  is  that  all 
patriotic  Americans  rejoice  in  the  nomination  and 
will  rejoice  in  the  election  at  this  time  of  such 


SPIES  AND  SLACKERS  '  221 

Americans  as  Mr.  Newberry  in  Michigan  and  Mr. 
Medill  McCormick  in  Illinois. 


SPIES  AND  SLACKERS 

SEPTEMBER  24,  1918 

MERCY  to  the  German  spy  or  pacifist  slacker  in 
America  is  foul  injustice  to  the  American  soldier  in 
France  and  to  his  brother,  who  is  preparing  to  go  to 
France.  Our  Government  has  been  altogether  too 
weak  in  dealing  with  the  pacifist  slackers  and  so- 
called  conscientious  objectors.  It  has  actually  issued 
elaborate  instructions  for  and  to  these  creatures 
practically  telling  them  how  to  escape  doing  the  duty 
which  all  patriotic  Americans  are  proudly  eager  to 
perform. 

There  is  not  the  slightest  excuse  for  such  weakness. 
No  man  has  any  right  to  remain  in  a  free  country  like 
ours  if  he  refuses,  whether  conscientiously  or  un- 
conscientiously,  to  do  the  duties  of  peace  and  of  war 
which  are  necessary  if  it  is  to  be  kept  free.  The  true 
lovers  of  peace  recognize  their  duty  to  fight  for 
freedom.  The  Society  of  Friends  has  furnished  the 
same  large  proportion  of  soldiers  for  this  war  that  it 
did  for  the  Civil  War. 

It  is  all  wrong  to  permit  conscientious  objectors  to 
remain  in  camp  or  military  posts  or  to  go  back  to 
their  homes.  They  should  be  treated  in  one  of  three 
ways:  First,  demand  of  them  military  service,  ex 
cept  the  actual  use  of  weapons  with  intent  to  kill, 


222  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

and  if  they  refuse  to  render  this  service  treat  them  as 
criminals  and  imprison  them  at  hard  labor;  second, 
put  them  in  labor  battalions  and  send  them  to 
France  behind  the  lines,  where  association  with 
soldiers  might  have  a  missionary  effect  on  them  and 
cause  them  to  forget  their  present  base  creed  and  rise 
to  worthy  levels  in  an  atmosphere  of  self-sacrifice 
and  of  service  and  struggle  for  great  ideals;  third,  if 
both  of  the  above  procedures  are  regarded  as  too 
drastic,  intern  them  with  alien  enemies  and  send 
them  permanently  out  of  the  country  as  soon  as 
possible. 

As  for  the  spies,  there  is  no  question  as  to  the 
treatment  needed.  They  should  be  shot  or  hung. 
They  are  public  enemies  and  this  is  war-time  and 
they  should  no  more  be  dealt  with  by  the  civil  law 
than  the  enemy  armies  should  be  so  dealt  with.  The 
German  spies  and  secret  agents  and  dynamiters  and 
murderers  in  this  country  are  as  much  a  part  of 
Germany  as  the  soldiers  of  von  Hindenburg.  Bis 
marck  employed  thirty  thousand  of  them  to  dis 
organize  Germany's  foes  fifty  years  ago,  and  now 
Germany  is  employing  them  by  the  hundred  thou 
sand.  They  are  as  formidable  as  the  visible  German 
army.  It  was  these  German  spies,  agents,  and  propa 
gandists  who,  in  1917,  disintegrated  and  destroyed 
Russia,  and  inflicted  a  crushing  disaster  on  Italy, 
and  conducted  the  most  dangerous  intrigue  in 
France,  and  aided  and  abetted  the  British  pacifists. 

In  this  country  Senator  Overman  has  estimated 
their  number  at  four  hundred  thousand,  and  Mr, 


SPIES  AND  SLACKERS  223 

Flynn,  the  recently  resigned  chief  of  the  secret  serv 
ice,  has  put  them  at  a  quarter  of  a  million.  Our 
official  government  reports  have  shown  that  in 
obedience  to  orders  from  the  German  Government 
they  have  carried  on  in  all  hostile  and  even  neutral 
countries  a  systematic  warfare  by  means  of  aiding 
pacifists'  movements,  inciting  strikes,  fomenting  dis 
loyalty,  and  employing  direct  action  dynamiters  and 
murderers.  They  have  received  aid  and  cooperation, 
conscientiously  and  unconscientiously,  by  many 
evils  in  pacifist  and  Bolshevist  societies  and  in 
organizations  like  the  I.W.W.  and  Non-Partisan 
League. 

The  activities  of  the  German  spies,  agents,  and 
sympathizers  vary  from  mere  disloyal  utterances, 
which  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  has 
stated  to  be  the  cause  of  most  of  the  disorder  in  the 
country,  up  to  seeking  to  corrupt  our  soldiers  and 
practicing  sabotage  in  our  munitions  works  and 
factories  for  war  materials.  All  offenders  of  the  latter 
type,  wherever  committed,  can,  under  the  existing 
law,  be  tried  by  court-martial  and  executed,  and  this 
is  the  proper  course  to  follow.  It  was  the  course 
followed  under  Lincoln's  administration,  which  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  Lincoln's  administration 
differed  so  markedly  from  Buchanan's. 

The  former  chief  of  the  secret  service  says  that 
there  are  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  these  German  spies 
and  agents  in  this  country.  We  have  ample  law  to 
warrant  these  being  punished  with  death  by  sum 
mary  court-martial,  under  military  law  as  military 


224  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

enemies.  We  have  been  at  war  eighteen  months,  but 
not  one  spy  has  thus  been  punished.  This  means 
grave  remissness  in  the  performance  of  our  duty. 


QUIT  PLAYING  FAVORITES 

SEPTEMBER  30,  1918 

IT  is  announced  that  the  young  men  of  eighteen  or 
nineteen  included  in  the  draft  will  be  sent  free  to 
college  by  the  Government  and  will  there  be  given 
the  chance  to  earn  commissions  and  escape  service 
in  the  ranks. 

Either  this  represents  sheer  deception  or  it  will 
mean  gross  favoritism.  We  now  have  plenty  of 
young  men  who  have  been  serving  in  the  ranks  for 
nearly  eighteen  months.  Scores  of  thousands  of 
these  left  college  to  go  or  had  just  finished  high 
school  when  they  went.  All  these  boys,  whether  they 
have  or  have  not  been  to  college,  are  entitled  to  the 
first  chance  for  commissions  on  equal  terms  with  one 
another,  except  that  preference  should  be  given  those 
who  have  been  engaged  in  the  fighting  overseas. 
Almost  all  the  second  lieutenancies  should  now  be 
filled  in  this  manner  by  promotion  from  the  ranks. 
To  give  to  boys  now  about  to  enter  college  the  pref 
erence  over  those  who  have  actually  served  in  the 
ranks,  and  especially  over  those  who  have  actually 
faced  death  overseas,  would  be  a  cruel  injustice. 

But  the  injustice  would  be  equally  great  among 
the  new  recruits  themselves.  It  is  wholly  illusory  for 


QUIT  PLAYING  FAVORITES  225 

the  Government  to  say  it  will  send  to  college  all  who 
wish  to  go.  The  average  working-man  or  small 
farmer  has  not  had  money  enough  to  educate  his  son 
so  that  the  boy  can  now  enter  college  without 
further  training.  Yet  that  boy  may  have  in  him  the 
qualities  of  leadership  which  especially  fit  him  for 
command.  Such  a  working-man  or  farmer  ought  to 
wish,  and  does  wish,  that  his  son  be  tested  on  his 
merits  by  actual  service  in  the  ranks,  alongside  of  all 
other  boys,  no  favors  being  shown  either  him  or 
them.  For  the  Government  at  this  time  to  send  some 
of  these  boys  to  college  and  thus  give  them  a  start 
over  the  bulk  of  their  fellows  represents  privilege 
given  to  money  and  is  thoroughly  unfair. 

For  the  two  years  before  we  entered  the  war  the 
only  important  piece  of  preparedness  was  that  of  the 
men  who  at  their  own  expense  went  to  the  Plattsburg 
training  camp  established  by  General  Wood,  and 
when  Germany  forced  us  into  war  it  was  impera 
tively  necessary  at  once  to  establish  many  additional 
camps  of  this  kind  or  we  should  have  had  no  officers 
whatever  for  our  army.  It  is  still  advisable  to  keep  a 
few  training  camps  for  older  men  whose  age  and 
qualifications  especially  fit  them  for  certain  kinds  of 
service.  But  it  is  not  wise  nor  right  for  the  Govern 
ment  now  to  put  certain  especially  favored  classes  of 
boys  of  eighteen  and  nineteen  into  college  with  a 
view  to  giving  them  an  advantage  over  their  fellows. 
This  is  undemocratic.  It  is  not  fair  to  the  other  boys 
of  their  age  who  are  not  in  the  army.  It  is  exceed 
ingly  unfair  and  unjust  to  the  young  men  who  are 


226  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

already  enlisted  in  the  army,  and  especially  to  those 
who  have  seen  service  overseas. 

From  now  on  no  young  officer  should  be  appointed 
saving  after  service  in  the  ranks  out  of  which  he  is 
chosen  by  fair  test  in  comparison  with  his  fellows  as 
fit  to  enter  an  officers'  training  camp.  Moreover, 
there  should  be  a  resolute  effort  to  give  preference  to 
the  men  who  have  served  in  the  front  in  France,  the 
very  men  who  are  now  apt  to  be  neglected. 


WAR  AIMS  AND   PEACE   PROPOSALS 

OCTOBER  12,  1918 

OUR  war  aim  ought  to  be  unconditional  surrender  of 
Germany  and  of  her  vassal  allies,  Austria  and  Tur 
key.  We  ought  not  to  consider  any  peace  proposals 
from  Germany  until  this  war  aim  has  been  accom 
plished  by  the  victorious  arms  of  our  allies  and 
ourselves. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Central  Powers  show 
a  greedy  eagerness  to  accept  the  so-called  "  fourteen 
points  "  laid  down  by  President  Wilson.  I  earnestly 
hope  that  when  the  time  for  discussing  peace  pro 
posals  comes,  we  shall  ourselves  repudiate  some  of 
these  fourteen  points,  and  that  we  shall  insist  on 
having  all  of  them  put  into  plain  and  straightforward 
language  before  we  assent  to  any  of  them.  Let  us 
remember  that  Congress  shares  with  the  President 
the  right  to  make  treaties  and  that  the  people  are 
bound  to  insist  that  they,  the  people,  are  the  ulti- 


WAR  ATMS  AND  PEACE  PROPOSALS    227 

mate  arbiters  and  that  their  will  in  the  peace  treaty 
is  followed  by  both  the  President  and  the  Congress. 

For  example,  what  does  that  one  of  the  fourteen 
points  referring  to  the  freedom  of  the  seas  mean? 
If  it  means  what  Germany  interprets  it  to  mean, 
then  every  decent  American  ought  to  be  against  it. 
The  kind  of  freedom  of  the  seas  upon  which  it  is 
really  vital  to  count  is  freedom  from  murder.  Inter 
national  law  at  present  condemns  exactly  the  kind  of 
murder  which  Germany  practiced  in  the  case  of  the 
Lusitania  and  in  hundreds  of  other  cases,  and  is  still 
practicing.  We  ought  to  make  her  atone  heavily  for 
such  conduct  and  explicitly  renounce  it  before  we 
ever  discuss  any  other  kind  of  freedom  of  the  seas. 

Again,  we  ought  to  know  just  what  the  President 
means  by  freedom  of  commercial  intercourse.  If  he 
means  that  he  proposes  to  allow  Germany  to  dump 
her  manufactures  on  us  without  restriction,  we  ought 
to  be  against  it.  We  ought  to  insist  on  keeping  in  our 
hands  the  complete  right  to  handle  our  tariff  as  the 
vital  interests  of  our  own  citizens,  and  especially  our 
own  working-men,  demand. 

Again,  what  is  meant  by  the  league  of  nations? 
If  it  means  that  Germany,  Austria,  Turkey,  and 
Russia,  as  at  present  constituted,  are  to  have  the 
say-so  about  America's  future  destiny,  we  ought  to 
be  against  it.  They  would  treat  any  agreement  with 
us  as  a  scrap  of  paper  wherever  it  suited  their  inter 
ests,  and  we  ought  to  realize  this  fact.  Moreover,  we 
already  belong  to  a  de  facto  league  of  nations  which 
is  a  going  concern.  Let  us  stand  by  our  allies  before 


228  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

entering  into  a  league  with  our  enemies.  Therefore, 
let  us  at  once  declare  war  on  Turkey.  Any  such 
league  is  of  value  only  if  all  its  members  are  willing 
to  make  war  on  the  same  offenders,  and  the  culpable 
failure  of  our  Government  to  make  war  on  Turkey 
and  Bulgaria  makes  it  absurd  and  hypocritical  for  us 
to  promise  to  enter  such  a  league  in  the  future  until 
this  failure  is  confessed  and  atoned  for.  And  let  us 
at  once  send  Major-General  Wood  and  fifty  thou 
sand  men  to  aid  the  Czecho-Slovaks  in  Siberia  and 
establish  our  front  well  to  the  west  of  the  Ural 
Mountains. 

Again,  the  talk  of  merely  giving  autonomy  to  the 
subject  races  of  Austria  amounts  to  betrayal  of  the 
Czecho-Slovaks,  the  Jugo-Slavs,  the  Italians,  and 
the  Rumanians.  The  first  should  be  given  their  in 
dependence  and  the  other  three  united  to  the  nations 
with  which  they  really  belong.  Moreover,  it  is  a 
betrayal  of  civilization  to  leave  the  Turk  in  Europe 
and  fail  to  free  the  Armenians  and  the  other  subject 
races  of  Turkey. 

Again,  let  us  define  what  is  meant  by  abolishing 
secret  diplomacy.  If  it  means  that  the  Administra 
tion  is  to  renounce  the  system  of  secret  and  furtive 
diplomacy  which  it  now  perseveres  in  concerning 
what  has  happened  in  Mexico,  Haiti,  and  San 
Domingo,  I  heartily  agree;  but  I  do  not  see  why  it 
needs  an  international  mandate  before  it  tells  our 
people  the  truth  in  these  matters.  Moreover,  before 
it  undertakes  a  fresh  agreement,  let  it  explain  why 
for  two  years  it  kept  secret  from  our  people  the  full 


PERMANENT  PREPAREDNESS          229 

knowledge  it  had  of  Germany's  conduct  and  attitude 
toward  us,  including  all  the  matters  set  forth  in 
Ambassador  Gerard's  books.  The  American  Nation 
has  never  seen  such  secret  diplomacy  practiced  by 
its  Government  as  it  has  seen  during  the  last  five 
years. 

It  is  evident,  before  these  fourteen  points  are  ac 
cepted  as  the  basis  for  peace  discussion,  they  should 
be  stated  in  such  straightforward  language  that  we 
may  understand  what  they  mean.  The  prime  neces 
sities  at  present  are  simplicity  of  language  and  the 
squaring  of  deeds  with  words.  The  thing  we  do  not 
need  is  adroit  and  supple  rhetoric  which  can  be  in 
terpreted  to  mean  anything  or  nothing. 


PERMANENT  PREPAREDNESS  AND 
THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS, 

OCTOBER  15,  1918 

THE  vital  military  need  of  this  country  as  regards  its 
future  international  relations  is  the  immediate  adop 
tion  of  the  policy  of  permanent  preparedness  based 
on  universal  training.  This  is  its  prime  duty  from 
the  standpoint  of  American  nationalism  and  patriot 
ism.  Then,  as  an  addition  or  supplement  to,  but 
under  no  conditions  as  substitute  for,  the  policy  of 
permanent  preparedness,  we  can  afford  cautiously 
to  enter  into  and  try  out  the  policy  of  a  league  of 
nations.  There  is  no  difficulty  whatever  in  prattling 
cheerfully  about  such  a  league  or  in  winning  applause 


230  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

by  rhetoric  concerning  it  prior  to  the  effort  to  make 
it  work  in  practice;  but  there  will  be  much  difficulty 
in  making  it  work  at  all  when  any  serious  strain 
comes,  and  it  will  prove  entirely  unworkable  if  the 
effort  is  made  to  unload  upon  it,  in  the  name  of  inter 
nationalism,  duties  which  in  the  present  state  of  the 
world  will  be  efficiently  performed  by  the  free  na 
tions  only  if  they  perform  them  as  national  duties. 

In  a  recent  adverse,  but  courteous  and  friendly 
article  on  my  attitude  in  this  matter  which  appeared 
in  a  great  daily  paper,  the  following  language  was 
used:  '  The  colonel  is  letting  himself  be  bothered, 
irritated,  and  sidetracked  by  fools.  There  is  no  way 
of  preventing  a  fool  from  saying  that  he  is  in  favor  of 
the  league  of  nations.  The  American  people  will  be 
making  up  their  minds  about  the  league  of  nations 
and  about  permanent  preparedness.  They  will  be 
told  by  certain  sorts  of  pacifists  that  if  they  accept 
the  league  they  can  safely  reject  preparedness.  They 
will  be  told  that  the  two  ideas  are  opposites." 

The  "  certain  sort  of  pacifist  "  who  has  made  this 
statement  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  is  the 
President  of  the  United  States  in  the  now  famous 
"  fourteen  points  "  which  he  enunciated  last  Janu 
ary.  He  advocated  as  one  part  of  his  plan  the  league 
or  association  of  nations,  as  he  has  elsewhere  advo 
cated  it,  and  he  advocated  as  another  part  of  his 
plan  "  the  guarantees  that  national  armaments  will 
be  reduced  to  the  lowest  point  consistent  with  do 
mestic  safety."  Unless  this  language  was  used  with 
intent  to  deceive,  domestic  safety  must  mean  merely 


HIGH-SOUNDING  PHRASES  231 

freedom  from  riot,  and  the  President's  proposal  is 
that  America's  national  preparedness  be  limited  to 
a  police  force  to  prevent  domestic  disorder.  There 
fore,  the  President  has  told  the  American  people 
that  if  they  accept  the  league  they  can  safely  reject 
preparedness. 

The  President  may  change  his  mind,  and  I  sin 
cerely  hope  he  will  do  so.  Until  he  does  so  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  sincere  American  patriot  to  lay  far 
more  emphasis  on  the  onerous  and  indispensable 
duty  of  national  preparedness  than  on  the  wholly 
untested  scheme  of  a  league  of  nations,  which  the 
President  has  presented  as  an  alternative.  I  heartily 
favor  true  internationalism  as  an  addition  to,  but 
never  as  substitute  for,  a  fervid  and  intensely  patri 
otic  nationalism.  I  will  gladly  back  any  wise  and 
honest  effort  to  create  a  league  of  nations,  but  only 
on  condition  that  it  is  treated  as  an  addition  to,  and 
not  as  a  substitute  for,  the  full  preparedness  of  our 
own  strength  for  our  own  defense. 


HIGH-SOUNDING  PHRASES  OF 
MUDDY  MEANING 

OCTOBER  17,  1918 

A  KEEN  observer  of  what  is  now  happening  in  the 
world  writes  me  that  there  is  very  grave  danger  that 
this  country  will  be  cheated  out  of  the  right  kind  of 
peace  if  our  people  remain  fatuously  content  to 
accept  high-sounding  phrases  of  muddy  meaning, 


232  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

instead  of  clear-cut  and  truthful  statements  of  just 
what  we  demand  and  just  what  we  intend  to  do. 

The  recent  action  of  President  Wilson  in  connec 
tion  with  Germany  has  shown  the  imperative  need 
of  our  people  informing  themselves  of  his  announced 
purpose  and  keeping  track  of  what  he  does  toward 
the  achievement  of  this  purpose.  Therefore,  we 
should  insist  upon  the  purpose  being  stated  in  under 
standable  fashion  and  being  adhered  to  after  it  has 
been  stated.  This  is  n't  the  President's  war.  It  is 
the  people's  war.  The  peace  will  not  be  a  satis 
factory  peace  unless  it  is  the  people's  peace.  As  a 
people  we  have  no  right  to  permit  the  President  to 
commit  us  to  that  of  which  we  do  not  approve  or 
to  that  which,  after  honest  effort,  we  are  unable  to 
understand. 

President  Wilson's  first  communication  to  the 
German  Government,  if  words  mean  anything, 
meant  an  effort  to  treat  on  the  basis  of  his  so-called 
"  fourteen  points."  The  German  Government  an 
swered  that  it  accepted  these  fourteen  points  and 
approved  of  them.  This  made  them  public  property, 
and  it  behooves  the  Americans  to  examine  them.  I 
believe  that  such  an  examination  will  show  the 
American  people  that  their  meaning  is  so  muddy 
that  we  should  insist  upon  their  being  clearly  defined 
before  we  in  any  way  accept  them  as  ours.  When  the 
peace  terms  come  to  be  reduced  to  action,  we  cannot 
afford  to  accept  empty  competitive  rhetoric  for 
straightforward  plain  dealing. 

As  regards  some  of  the  points,  either  the  meaning 


HIGH-SOUNDING  PHRASES  233 

is  so  muddy  as  to  be  wholly  incomprehensible  or  else 
the  proposals  are  very  treacherous.  The  fourth 
article,  for  example,  proposes  guarantees  for  the 
reduction  of  national  armaments  to  the  lowest  point 
consistent  with  domestic  safety.  If  this  article 
means  anything,  it  means  that  this  Nation,  for 
instance,  is  only  to  keep  whatever  armed  forces  are 
necessary  to  police  the  country  in  the  event  of 
domestic  disturbance.  Now,  let  our  people  face 
what  this  really  implies.  It  is  a  proposal  that  we 
give  up  our  navy,  which,  of  course,  cannot  be  used 
for  such  police  purposes,  and  that  we  give  up  all  of 
our  army  that  could  be  used  against  a  foreign  foe. 
And  according  to  point  fourteen  of  his  address  to 
Congress  of  January  8  last,  and  according  to  point 
three  in  his  speech  of  September  27  last,  this  lack  of 
armament  on  our  part  is  to  be  supplied  by  mutual 
guarantees  of  political  independence  and  territorial 
integrity  within  the  league  of  nations  covering  the 
world. 

Now,  such  guarantees  are  precisely  and  exactly 
the  scraps  of  paper  to  which  the  German  Chancellor 
likened  them  when  his  Government  tore  up  those 
affecting  Belgium.  The  proposal  of  President  Wilson 
is  that  this  country  shall  put  itself  in  the  position  of 
Belgium;  shall  trust  to  guarantees  precisely  such  as 
those  to  which  Belgium  trusted  four  and  one  quarter 
years  ago,  and  he  also  proposes,  as  far  as  his  meaning 
can  be  made  out  at  all,  that  the  very  powers  that 
treated  these  guarantees  as  scraps  of  paper  in  the 
case  of  Belgium  shall  be  among  the  powers  to  whose 


234          >  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

guarantee  we  are  to  trust  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
preparation  for  our  own  self-defense.  All  nations  are 
to  be  asked  to  render  themselves  helpless  with  fatu 
ous  indifference  to  the  obvious  fact  that  every  weak- 
minded  nation  which  accepted  and  acted  in  the 
proposal  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  every  ruthless  and 
efficient  nation  that  chose  to  treat  the  proposal  as  a 
scrap  of  paper. 

I  gravely  doubt  whether  a  more  silly  or  more 
mischievous  plan  was  ever  seriously  proposed  by  the 
ruler  of  a  great  nation.  Yet,  this  is  exactly  the  plan 
to  which  President  Wilson,  by  his  correspondence 
with  Germany,  has  sought  definitely  to  commit  the 
United  States.  If  his  words  do  not  mean  exactly 
what  is  above  set  forth,  then  their  meaning  is  so 
muddy  that  no  two  disinterested  outsiders  would  be 
warranted  in  interpreting  them  the  same  way. 

There  is  small  cause  for  wonder  that  Germany 
eagerly  accepted  and  made  her  own  President 
Wilson's  fourteen  points  to  which  he,  without  any 
warrant  whatever,  seemed  to  commit  this  Nation. 
Incidentally  I  may  add  that  Mr.  Wilson  has  at 
different  times  enunciated  at  least  as  many  other 
points,  some  of  them  contradictory  to  the  fourteen 
which  he  enumerated  in  January  last.  The  outburst 
of  popular  indignation  led  by  such  men  as  Senators 
Lodge,  Poindexter,  and  Thomas,  which  forced  him 
to  repudiate  the  negotiations  which  he  had  begun 
with  Germany,  should  be  supplemented  by  a  resolute 
insistence  upon  the  duty  of  the  American  public  to 
inform  itself  as  to  what  it  wishes  in  the  peace  before 


HIGH-SOUNDING  PHRASES  235 

the  President,  without  authority,  commits  it  to  any 
peace  proposal,  and  above  all  to  peace  proposals 
which  may  mean  anything  or  nothing. 

Secretary  McAdoo,  with  fine  family  loyalty,  an 
nounced  that  the  acceptance  by  Germany  of  the 
fourteen  points  would  have  meant  Germany's  un 
conditional  surrender.  He  might  as  well  have  said 
that  the  acceptance  of  disunion  and  the  perpetuation 
of  slavery  in  1864  would  have  meant  a  surrender  by 
the  Confederate  states.  Not  only  Germany,  but 
every  pacifist  and  pro-German  here  at  home,  hailed 
the  fourteen  points  as  representing  what  they  de 
sired.  I  recently  spoke  to  a  body  of  loyal  Americans 
of  German  descent  on  behalf  of  the  Liberty  Loan.  A 
member  of  their  organization  who  was  not  a  straight 
American,  but  a  hyphenated  American,  and  who  did 
not  venture  to  do  more  than  sign  himself  as  "  Ger 
man-American,"  wrote  me  that  in  view  of  my  re 
pudiation  of  President  Wilson's  so-called  fourteen 
points  he  could  not,  as  a  loyal  German-American,  do 
otherwise  than  condemn  me.  The  individual  him 
self  is  doubtless  as  unimportant  as  the  anonymous 
letter  writer  usually  is,  but  there  is  a  real  significance 
in  his  endorsement  of  President  Wilson's  fourteen 
points  in  view  of  his  calling  himself  so  emphatically 
not  a  straight-out  American,  but  a  German-Ameri 
can.  Evidently  his  loyalty  is  to  Germanism  and  not 
to  Americanism,  and  this  German  loyalty  of  his 
made  him  back  the  President's  fourteen  points, 
which  Germany  had  so  gladly  accepted. 

The  American  people  should  insist  that  these  four- 


236  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

teen  points  and  any  other  points  are  stated  in  clear- 
cut  language,  and  that  there  be  a  full  understanding 
of  just  what  is  meant  by  them  and  a  full  knowledge 
of  how  far  the  American  people  approve  of  them 
before  any  foreign  power  is  permitted  to  think  that 
they  represent  America's  position  at  the  peace 
council. 


AN  AMERICAN   PEACE    VERSUS 

A  RUBBER-STAMP  PEACE 

OCTOBER  22,  1918 

IN  Wallace's  Farmer,  a  journal  devoted  to  the  inter 
ests  of  the  farmer,  and  also  to  the  interests  of  every 
good  American  citizen,  but  which  has  no  concern 
with  partisan  politics,  there  is  a  strong  editorial 
against  our  acceptance  of  a  peace  on  the  terms  of  the 
famous  fourteen  points  laid  down  by  President 
Wilson  in  his  message  of  January  last.  It  reads  in 
part  as  follows: 

Of  course,  Germany  would  like  to  make  peace  on  the  terms 
laid  down  by  President  Wilson  in  his  speech  of  January  8,  for 
it  would  allow  Germany  to  escape  the  just  penalty  of  her 
crimes  and  restore  her  to  her  condition  before  the  war. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  leading  Socialist  paper  of 
New  York  enthusiastically  champions  the  fourteen 
points,  especially  those  demanding  a  league  of  na 
tions,  freedom  of  the  seas  according  to  the  German 
party,  and  the  removal  of  all  economic  barriers. 
This  championship  is  natural,  for  the  Socialists,  like 


AN  AMERICAN  PEACE  237 

the  I.W.W.  of  this  country,  who  have  been  bitterly 
pro-German  and  anti-American,  and  like  the  worst 
Russian  Bolsheviks,  have  steadily  worked  in  Ger 
many's  interests;  and  like  all  its  professional  inter 
nationalists  they  hate  the  liberty-loving  nations  so 
bitterly  that  they  are  eagerly  working  for  peace  satis 
factory  to  the  German  autocracy.  All  such  persons, 
so  far  as  they  are  not  merely  silly,  seek  their  own 
profit  in  the  destruction  of  civilization,  and  they 
would  hail  an  inconclusive  peace,  which  would  mean 
the  triumph  of  militarism,  rather  than  see  the  free 
nations  triumphant  over  both  militarism  and  anarchy. 
But  in  his  last  note  to  Austria,  President  Wilson 
himself  flatly  repudiates  one  of  his  fourteen  points  — 
that  relating  to  autonomy  for  the  Czecho-Slovaks 
and  Jugo-Slavs  under  the  Austro-Hungarian  yoke. 
He  announces  that  he  has  changed  his  position 
because  facts  have  changed,  but  in  reality  the  facts 
have  not  changed  in  even  the  smallest  degree  be 
tween  January  and  October  so  far  as  these  two 
nationalities  are  concerned.  Many  persons,  includ 
ing  myself,  had  then  been  demanding  for  over  a  year 
this  complete  independence.  Nothing  whatever  has 
changed  in  the  situation  except  Mr.  Wilson's  mind, 
and  obviously  this  has  changed  merely  because  the 
American  people  have  gradually  waked  up  and  have 
forced  him  in  this  matter  to  take  a  course  diamet 
rically  opposed  to  the  one  he  had  been  advocating, 
precisely  as  a  week  ago  an  aroused  and  indignant 
public  opinion  forced  him  to  absolutely  reverse  the 
course  of  negotiation  on  which  he  entered  with  Ger- 


238  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

many.  The  popular  feeling  would  have  been  inartic 
ulate  and  helpless  if  it  had  not  received  expression 
from  various  patriotic  public  servants  and  private 
citizens  and  from  those  fearless  newspapers,  which, 
at  the  risk  of  grave  financial  disaster,  have  ventured 
when  the  crisis  was  serious  to  defy  the  sinister  efforts 
of  the  Administration  to  do  away  with  the  free 
dom  of  the  press.  Senators  Lodge,  Poindexter,  and 
Thomas  and  Congressman  Fess  are  examples  of  the 
public  servants,  and  Professor  Hobbs,  of  the  Uni 
versity  of  Michigan,  and  Professor  Thayer,  of  Har 
vard,  are  examples  of  private  citizens  who  have 
well  served  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  this 
crisis. 

Of  course,  the  entire  cuckoo  or  rubber-stamp  tribe 
of  politicians  tumbled  over  themselves  in  the  effort 
to  assure  the  President  that  no  matter  what  somer 
sault  he  turned  they  would  flop  with  equal  quickness, 
and  that  their  responsibility  was  solely  to  him  and 
not  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  or  to  the  cause 
of  right  and  of  fearlessness  and  of  honorable  dealing. 
Senator  Lewis,  of  Illinois,  introduced  a  resolution 
stating  that  "  the  United  States  Senate  approves 
whatever  course  may  be  taken  by  the  President  in 
dealing  with  the  German  Imperial  Government  and 
the  Austrian  Imperial  Government  and  endorses 
and  approves  whatever  methods  he  may  employ." 
Senator  Lewis  is,  in  private  life,  an  amiable  and 
kindly  gentleman,  but  the  above  resolution  is  a 
somewhat  abject  announcement  that  in  public  life  he 
aspires  only  to  be  a  rubber  stamp.  If  such  position  is 


UNCONDITIONAL  SURRENDER        239 

proper,  then  there  is  no  need  of  Senators  or  Congress 
men,  and  our  people  should  merely  send  written 
proxies  to  Washington  and  should  otherwise  copy 
the  example  of  those  big  private  corporations  which 
are  controlled  by  one  man  according  to  his  own  will 
and  for  his  own  benefit. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  American  people  will 
accept  a  view  which  is  both  so  abject  and  so  pro 
foundly  unpatriotic.  This  is  the  war  of  the  American 
people  and  the  peace  which  concludes  it  should  be 
the  peace  imposed  by  the  American  people.  There 
fore,  they  should  send  to  Washington  public  servants 
who  will  be  self-respecting  Americans  and  not  rubber 
stamps. 


UNCONDITIONAL  SURRENDER 

OCTOBER  26,  1918 

WHEN  the  American  people  speak  for  unconditional 
surrender,  it  means  that  Germany  must  accept  what 
ever  terms  the  United  States  and  its  allies  think 
necessary  in  order  to  right  the  dreadful  wrongs  that 
have  been  committed  and  to  safeguard  the  world  for 
at  least  a  generation  to  come  from  another  attempt 
by  Germany  to  secure  world  dominion.  Uncondi 
tional  surrender  is  the  reverse  of  a  negotiated  peace. 
The  interchange  of  notes,  which  has  been  going  on 
between  our  Government  and  the  Governments  of 
Germany  and  Austria  during  the  last  three  weeks, 
means,  of  course,  if  persisted  in,  a  negotiated  peace. 


240  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

It  is  the  abandonment  of  force  and  the  substitution 
of  negotiation.  This  fact  should  be  clearly  and  truth 
fully  stated  by  our  leaders,  so  that  the  American 
people  may  decide  with  their  eyes  open  which  course 
they  will  follow. 

Those  of  us  who  believe  in  unconditional  surrender 
regard  Germany's  behavior  during  the  last  five  years 
as  having  made  her  the  outlaw  among  nations.  In 
private  life  sensible  men  and  women  do  not  negotiate 
with  an  outlaw  or  grow  sentimental  about  him,  or 
ask  for  a  peace  with  him  on  terms  of  equality  if  he 
will  give  up  his  booty.  Still  less  do  they  propose  to 
make  a  league  with  him  for  the  future,  and  on  the 
strength  of  this  league  to  abolish  the  sheriff  and  take 
the  constable.  On  the  contrary,  they  expect  the  law 
officers  to  take  him  by  force  and  to  have  him  tried 
and  punished.  They  do  not  punish  him  out  of  re 
venge,  but  because  all  intelligent  persons  know 
punishment  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  stop  certain 
kinds  of  criminals  from  wrongdoing  and  to  save  the 
community  from  such  wrongdoing. 

We  ought  to  treat  Germany  in  precisely  this 
manner.  It  is  a  sad  and  dreadful  thing  to  have  to 
face  some  months  or  a  year  or  so  of  additional  blood 
shed,  but  it  is  a  much  worse  thing  to  quit  now  and 
have  the  children  now  growing  up  obliged  to  do  the 
job  all  over  again,  with  ten  times  as  much  bloodshed 
and  suffering,  when  their  turn  comes.  The  surest 
way  to  secure  a  peace  as  lasting  as  that  which 
followed  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  is  to  overthrow 
the  Prussianized  Germany  of  the  Hohenzollerns  as 


WHAT  ARE  THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS?    241 

Napoleon  was  overthrown.  If  we  enter  into  a  league 
of  peace  with  Germany  and  her  vassal  allies,  we  must 
expect  them  to  treat  the  arrangement  as  a  scrap  of 
paper  whenever  it  becomes  to  their  interest  to  do  so. 


WHAT  ARE  THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS? 

OCTOBER  30,  1918 

THE  European  nations  have  been  told  that  the 
fourteen  points  enumerated  in  President  Wilson's 
message  of  January  last  are  to  be  the  basis  of  peace. 
It  is,  therefore,  possible  that  Americans  may  like  to 
know  what  they  are.  It  is  even  possible  that  they 
may  like  to  guess  what  they  mean,  although  I  am 
not  certain  that  such  guessing  is  permitted  by  the 
Postmaster-General  and  the  Attorney-General  under 
the  new  theory  of  making  democracy  safe  for  all 
kinds  of  peoples  abroad  who  have  never  heard  of  it 
by  interpreting  democracy  at  home  as  meaning  that 
it  is  unlawful  for  the  people  to  express  any  except 
favorable  opinions  of  the  way  in  which  the  public 
servants  of  the  people  transact  the  public  business. 
The  first  point  forbids  "  all  private  international 
understandings  of  any  kind,"  and  says  there  must  be 
"  open  covenants  of  peace,  openly  arrived  at,"  and 
announces  that  "  diplomacy  shall  always  proceed 
frankly  in  the  public  view."  The  President  has  re 
cently  waged  war  on  Haiti  and  San  Domingo  and 
rendered  democracy  within  these  two  small  former 
republics  not  merely  unsafe,  but  non-existent.  He 


242  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

has  kept  all  that  he  has  done  in  the  matter  absolutely 
secret.  If  he  means  what  he  says,  he  will  at  once  an 
nounce  what  open  covenant  of  peace  he  has  openly 
arrived  at  with  these  two  little  republics,  which  he 
has  deprived  of  their  right  of  self-determination.  He 
will  also  announce  what  public  international  under 
standing,  if  any,  he  now  has  with  these  two  republics, 
whose  soil  he  is  at  present  occupying  with  the  armed 
forces  of  the  United  States  and  hundreds  of  whose 
citizens  have  been  killed  by  these  armed  forces.  If 
he  has  no  such  public  understanding,  he  will  tell  us 
why,  and  whether  he  has  any  private  international 
understanding,  or  whether  he  invaded  and  con 
quered  them  and  deprived  them  of  the  right  of  self- 
determination  without  any  attempt  to  reach  any 
understanding,  either  private  or  public. 

Moreover,  he  has  just  sent  abroad  on  a  diplomatic 
mission  Mr.  House,  of  Texas.  Mr.  House  is  not 
in  the  public  service  of  the  Nation,  but  he  is  in 
the  private  service  of  Mr.  Wilson.  He  is  usually 
called  Colonel  House.  In  his  official  or  semi-official 
biography,  published  in  an  ardently  admiring  New 
York  paper,  it  is  explained  that  he  was  once  ap 
pointed  colonel  on  a  governor's  staff,  but  carried  his 
dislike  of  military  ostentation  to  the  point  of  giving 
his  uniform  to  a  negro  servant  to  wear  on  social 
occasions.  This  attitude  of  respect  for  the  uniform 
makes  the  President  feel  that  he  is  peculiarly  fit  to 
negotiate  on  behalf  of  our  fighting  men  abroad  for 
whom  the  uniform  is  sacred.  Associated  with  him  is 
an  editor  of  the  New  York  World,  which  paper  has 


THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS  243 

recently  been  busy  in  denouncing  as  foolish  the 
demand  made  by  so  many  Americans  for  uncondi 
tional  surrender  by  Germany. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  these  two  gentlemen  possess 
charming  social  attributes  and  much  private  worth, 
but  as  they  are  sent  over  on  a  diplomatic  mission, 
presumably  vitally  affecting  the  whole  country,  and 
as  their  instructions  and  purposes  are  shrouded  in 
profound  mystery,  it  seems  permissible  to  ask  Presi 
dent  Wilson  why  in  this  particular  instance  diplo 
macy  does  not  "  proceed  frankly  in  the  public 
view  "  ? 

This  first  one  of  the  fourteen  points  offers  such  an 
illuminating  opportunity  to  test  promise  as  to  the 
future  by  performance  in  the  present  that  I  have 
considered  it  at  some  length.  The  other  thirteen 
points  and  the  subsequent  points  laid  down  as 
further  requirements  for  peace  I  shall  briefly  take  up 
in  another  article. 


FURTHER  CONSIDERATION  OF  THE 
FOURTEEN   POINTS 

OCTOBER  30,  1918 

THE  second  in  the  fourteen  points  deals  with  freedom 
of  the  seas.  It  makes  no  distinction  between  freeing 
the  seas  from  murder  like  that  continually  practiced 
by  Germany  and  freeing  them  from  blockade  of 
contraband  merchandise,  which  is  the  practice  of  a 
right  universally  enjoyed  by  belligerents,  and  at  this 


244  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

moment  practiced  by  the  United  States.  Either  this 
proposal  is  meaningless  or  it  is  a  mischievous  con 
cession  to  Germany. 

The  third  point  promises  free  trade  among  all  the 
nations,  unless  the  words  are  designedly  used  to 
conceal  President  Wilson's  true  meaning.  This 
would  deny  to  our  country  the  right  to  make  a  tariff 
to  protect  its  citizens,  and  especially  its  working- 
men,  against  Germany  or  China  or  any  other 
country.  Apparently  this  is  desired  on  the  ground 
that  the  incidental  domestic  disaster  to  this  country 
will  prevent  other  countries  from  feeling  hostile  to 
us.  The  supposition  is  foolish.  England  practiced 
free  trade  and  yet  Germany  hated  England  particu 
larly,  and  Turkey  practiced  free  trade  without 
deserving  or  obtaining  friendship  from  any  one 
except  those  who  desired  to  exploit  her. 

The  fourth  point  provides  that  this  Nation,  like 
every  other,  is  to  reduce  its  armaments  to  the  lowest 
limit  consistent  with  domestic  safety.  Either  this  is 
language  deliberately  used  to  deceive  or  else  it  means 
that  we  are  to  scrap  our  army  and  navy  and  prevent 
riot  by  means  of  a  national  constabulary,  like  the 
state^  constabulary  of  New  York  or  Pennsylvania. 

Point  five  proposes  that  colonial  claims  shall  all  be 
treated  on  the  same  basis.  Unless  the  language  is 
deliberately  used  to  deceive,  this  means  that  we  are 
to  restore  to  our  brutal  enemy  the  colonies  taken  by 
our  allies  while  they  were  defending  us  from  this 
enemy.  The  proposition  is  probably  meaningless.  If 
it  is  not,  it  is  monstrous. 


THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS  245 

Point  six  deals  with  Russia.  It  probably  means 
nothing,  but  if  it  means  anything,  it  provides  that 
America  shall  share  on  equal  terms  with  other  na 
tions,  including  Germany,  Austria,  and  Turkey,  in 
giving  Russia  assistance.  The  whole  proposition 
would  not  be  particularly  out  of  place  in  a  college 
sophomore's  exercise  in  rhetoric. 

Point  seven  deals  with  Belgium  and  is  entirely 
proper  and  commonplace. 

Point  eight  deals  with  Alsace-Lorraine  and  is 
couched  in  language  which  betrays  Mr.  Wilson's 
besetting  sin  —  his  inability  to  speak  in  a  straight 
forward  manner.  He  may  mean  that  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  must  be  restored  to  France,  in  which  case 
he  is  right.  He  may  mean  that  a  plebiscite  must  be 
held,  in  wrhich  case  he  is  playing  Germany's  evil 
game. 

Point  nine  deals  with  Italy,  and  is  right. 

Point  ten  deals  with  the  Austro-Hungarian  Em 
pire,  and  is  so  foolish  that  even  President  Wilson  has 
since  abandoned  it. 

Point  eleven  proposes  that  we,  together  with  other 
nations,  including  apparently  Germany,  Austria, 
and  Hungary,  shall  guarantee  justice  in  the  Balkan 
Peninsula.  As  this  would  also  guarantee  our  being 
from  time  to  time  engaged  in  war  over  matters  in 
which  we  had  no  interest  whatever,  it  is  worth  while 
inquiring  whether  President  Wilson  proposes  that  we 
wage  these  wars  with  the  national  constabulary  to 
which  he  desired  to  reduce  our  armed  forces. 

Point  twelve  proposes  to  perpetuate  the  infamy  of 


246  ;  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

Turkish  rule  in  Europe,  and  as  a  sop  to  the  con 
science  of  humanity  proposes  to  give  the  subject 
races  autonomy,  a  slippery  word  which  in  a  case  like 
this  is  useful  only  for  rhetorical  purposes. 

Point  thirteen  proposes  an  independent  Poland, 
which  is  right;  and  then  proposes  that  we  guarantee 
its  integrity  in  the  event  of  future  war,  which  is 
preposterous  unless  we  intend  to  become  a  military 
nation  more  fit  for  overseas  warfare  than  Germany 
is  at  present. 

Point  fourteen  proposes  a  general  association  of 
nations  to  guarantee  to  great  and  small  states  alike 
political  independence  and  territorial  integrity.  It 
is  dishonorable  to  make  this  proposition  so  long  as 
President  Wilson  continues  to  act  as  he  is  now  acting 
in  Haiti  and  San  Domingo.  In  its  essence  Mr. 
Wilson's  proposition  for  a  league  of  nations  seems  to 
be  akin  to  the  holy  alliance  of  the  nations  of  Europe 
a  century  ago,  which  worked  such  mischief  that  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  was  called  into  being  especially  to 
combat  it.  If  it  is  designed  to  do  away  with  nation 
alism,  it  will  work  nothing  but  mischief.  If  it  is 
devised  in  sane  fashion  as  an  addition  to  nationalism 
and  as  an  addition  to  preparing  our  own  strength  for 
our  own  defense,  it  may  do  a  small  amount  of  good ; 
but  it  will  certainly  accomplish  nothing  if  more  than 
a  moderate  amount  is  attempted  and  probably  the 
best  first  step  would  be  to  make  the  existing  league 
of  the  Allies  a  going  concern. 

As  to  the  supplementary  points  or  proposals,  the 
four  advanced  or  laid  down  in  February  were  sound 


THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS  247 

moral  aphorisms  of  no  value  save  as  they  may  be 
defined  in  each  particular  case. 

But  the  supplementary  five  proposals  set  forth  by 
President  Wilson  last  September  were,  on  the  whole, 
mischievous  and  were  capable  of  a  construction  that 
would  make  them  ruinous  in  their  essence.  They  set 
forth  the  doctrine  that  there  must  be  no  discrimina 
tion  between  our  friends  and  our  enemies  and  no 
special  economic  or  political  alliances  among  friendly 
nations,  but  uniform  treatment  of  all  the  league  of 
nations;  the  said  league,  therefore,  to  include  Ger 
many,  Austria,  Turkey,  and  Russia  upon  a  footing  of 
equality  of  our  allies.  Either  the  words  used  mean 
nothing  or  they  mean  that  we  are  to  enter  a  league 
in  which  we  make-believe  that  our  deadly  enemies, 
stained  with  every  kind  of  brutality  and  treachery, 
are  as  worthy  of  friendship  as  the  Allies  who  have 
fought  our  battles  for  four  years.  No  wonder  that 
the  proposal  is  enthusiastically  applauded  by  Ger 
many,  Austria,  and  Turkey  and  by  all  our  own  pro- 
Germans  and  pacifists  and  Germanized  Socialists 
and  anti- American  internationalists.  It  is  the  kind 
of  proposition  made  by  cold-blooded  men  who  at 
least  care  nothing  for  the  sufferings  of  others.  It  is 
eagerly  championed  by  foolish  and  hysterical  senti 
mentalists.  It  is  accepted  and  used  for  sinister  pur 
poses  by  powerful  and  cynical  wrongdoers.  When 
the  President  was  making  this  proposition  and 
during  the  subsequent  month  Germany  was  com 
mitting  inhuman  murders  of  the  people  on  the 
Ticonderoga  and  Leinster  at  sea,  and  on  shore  was 


248  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

committing  every  species  of  murder,  rape,  enslave 
ment,  plunder,  and  outrage  as  her  armies  withdrew 
from  France  and  Belgium. 

President  Wilson's  announcement  was  a  notice  to 
the  malefactors  that  they  would  not  be  punished  for 
the  murders.  Let  us  treat  the  league  of  nations  only 
as  an  addition  to,  and  not  as  a  substitute  for,  thor 
ough  preparedness  and  intense  nationalism  on  our 
part.  Let  none  of  the  present  international  criminals 
be  admitted  until  a  sufficient  number  of  years  has 
passed  to  make  us  sure  it  has  repented.  Make  con 
duct  the  test  of  admission  to  the  league.  In  every 
crisis  judge  each  nation  by  its  conduct.  Therefore, 
at  the  present  time  let  us  stand  by  our  friends  and 
against  our  enemies. 


FOURTEEN  SCRAPS  OF  PAPER 
OCTOBER  31,  1918 

IN  my  article  yesterday  I  discussed  Mr.  Wilson's 
fourteen  peace  points  which  had  been  accepted  by 
Germany.*  After  the  article  was  sent  in,  Mr.  Wilson 
explained  one  of  the  points  by  stating  that  it  meant 
exactly  the  opposite  of  what  it  said.  A  New  York 
paper  has  asked  for  the  election  of  a  Congress  that 
shall  see  eye  to  eye  with  Mr.  Wilson.  But  only  a 
Congress  of  whirling  dervishes  could  see  eye  to  eye 
with  Mr.  Wilson  for  more  than  twenty-four  hours  at 
a  time. 

When  Germany  broke  her  treaty  with  Belgium, 


FOURTEEN  SCRAPS  OF  PAPER          249 

the  German  Chancellor  called  it  a  scrap  of  paper. 
Any  individual  who  proposes  a  treaty  which  plainly 
means  one  thing,  and  then,  as  soon  as  he  finds  it  dis 
agreeable  to  adhere  to  that  obvious  meaning,  in 
stantly  interprets  it  as  meaning  exactly  the  opposite, 
is  treating  it  as  a  scrap  of  paper.  Mr.  Wilson's  recent 
interpretation  of  what  he  meant  in  the  point  about 
economic  barriers  makes  all  the  fourteen  points 
scraps  of  paper  unworthy  of  serious  discussion  by 
anybody,  because  no  human  being  is  supposed  to  say 
what  any  one  of  them  means  or  to  do  more  than 
guess  whether  to-morrow  Mr.  Wilson  will  not  in 
terpret  each  and  all  of  them  in  a  sense  exactly  the 
opposite  to  their  meaning. 

Mr.  Wilson's  language  in  the  point  in  question 
was  that  he  intended  the  removal  "  of  all  economic 
barriers  and  the  establishment  of  an  equality  of 
trade  conditions  among  all  the  nations."  By  no 
honest  construction  of  language  can  this  be  held  to 
mean  anything  except  that  this  Nation,  for  example, 
could  have  no  tariff  of  its  own,  but  must  live  under 
exactly  the  same  tariff,  or  no  tariff,  conditions  with 
all  other  nations.  But  Mr.  Wilson  now  notifies  a 
Democratic  Senator  that  he  did  not  mean  any  "  re 
striction  upon  the  free  determination  by  any  nation 
of  its  own  economic  policy."  If  he  meant  this,  why 
did  he  not  say  it?  Why  did  he  say  the  exact  oppo 
site?  His  first  statement  is  wholly  incompatible 
with  the  interpretation  he  now  puts  on  it.  If  any 
body  in  private  life  entered  into  a  contract  in  such 
manner  and  then  sought  to  repudiate  it  by  interpret- 


250  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

ing  it  in  such  manner,  there  is  not  a  court  in  Chris 
tendom  that  would  not  adjudge  him  guilty  of  having 
used  language  with  deliberate  intent  to  deceive. 

Nor  is  this  all.  In  his  new  interpretation  of  what 
he  did  not  originally  mean,  the  President  now  says 
that  he  proposes  to  prevent  any  nation,  including  the 
United  States,  from  using  its  tariff  to  discriminate  in 
favor  of  friendly  nations  and  against  hostile  nations. 
This  is  what  he  now  says  and  what  he  now  means, 
but,  of  course,  to-morrow  he  may  say  that  in  this 
new  interpretation  he  again  meant  exactly  the  oppo 
site  of  what  he  says.  However  this  may  be  for  the 
future,  President  Wilson  at  this  moment  says,  for 
instance,  we  ought  to  abandon  reciprocity  treaties; 
that  we  ought  to  refuse  to  make  such  treaties  with 
our  friends,  such  as  Cuba  and  Brazil,  and  ought  to 
punish  these  friends  by  treating  them  on  an  exact 
equality  with  our  embittered  and  malevolent  enemy, 
Germany.  LI  hold  this  to  be  thoroughly  mischievous 
doctrine. 

The  great  scientist,  Huxley,  who  loved  truth  and 
abhorred  falsehood,  said  that  "  the  primary  condi 
tion  of  honest  literature  is  to  leave  the  reader  in  no 
doubt  as  to  the  author's  meaning."  Evidently  this 
primary  condition  is  not  fulfilled  by  Mr.  Wilson's 
fourteen  points.  They  should  now  be  treated  as 
scraps  of  paper  and  put  where  they  belong,  in  the 
scrap-basket. 


THE  TURKS  SURRENDER  251 

THE  TURKS  SURRENDER 
UNCONDITIONALLY 

NOVEMBER  3,  1918 

THE  British  have  beaten  Turkey  to  her  knees  and 
she  has  surrendered  unconditionally.  America  has 
no  share  in  the  honor  of  what  has  been  done.  Presi 
dent  Wilson,  although  we  were  at  war  with  Ger 
many,  has  refused  to  aid  our  allies  against  Turkey 
and  has  preserved  the  same  cold  neutrality  between 
the  Armenians  and  their  Turkish  butchers  that  he 
formerly  did  between  the  Belgians  and  their  German 
oppressors. 

Turkey  had  inflicted  inhuman  wrongs  on  the 
subject  peoples  and  had  infringed  our  own  treaty 
rights,  but  President  Wilson  refused  to  go  to  war 
with  her.  Yet  with  our  navy  at  the  very  outbreak 
of  hostilities  and  then  with  a  considerable  and  con 
stantly  growing  army,  if  we  had  been  willing  we 
could  have  materially  aided  the  British  and  French. 
In  such  event  Constantinople  would  doubtless  have 
been  taken  long  ago.  As  it  is,  thanks  to  President 
Wilson,  we  Americans  can  only  look  on  and  rejoice 
that  others  did  better  than  our  rulers  let  us  do.  We 
have  had  no  hand  in  the  freeing  of  Palestine,  Syria, 
and  Armenia.  Under  the  great  law  of  service  and 
sacrifice  it  is  the  British  and  French  alone  who  have 
the  moral  right  to  determine  the  fate  of  Turkey. 
They,  and  especially  the  British,  have  poured  out 
their  blood  freely,  and  now,  after  the  victory  has 


252  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

been  gained,  expenditure  of  ink  on  our  part  is  of 
mighty  small  consequence  in  comparison.  I  ear 
nestly  hope  that  permanent  justice  will  be  done  by 
expelling  the  Turk  from  Europe  and  making  all 
Armenia  independent.  But  we  have  lost  the  right  to 
insist  on  these  points. 

The  beginning  of  the  end  came  when,  two  or  three 
weeks  ago,  Bulgaria  was  forced  to  surrender 
unconditionally.  Here  again,  thanks  to  President 
Wilson,  America  had  no  part  in  the  honor  and  credit 
of  the  vital  triumph.  Our  Government  was  still 
neutral  about  Bulgaria,  still  too  proud  to  fight  either 
Turkey  or  Bulgaria,  still  hoping  for  peace  without 
victory  over  them. 

Now  Turkey  has  surrendered  and  Austria  has 
broken  up.  In  the  case  of  Austria,  after  ten  months* 
unpardonable  delay,  we  did  finally  go  to  war,  and  we 
have  a  very  small  share  in  the  great  glory  won  by 
Italy  and  the  other  Allies. 

The  greatest  contest  was  on  the  western  front,  and 
here  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  American  troops 
engaged  under  Foch  and  Pershing  have  shown  such 
extraordinary  gallantry  and  efficiency  that  we  are  all 
forever  their  debtors.  Nearly  a  month  ago  President 
Wilson  entered  into  negotiations  with  Germany 
which,  if  continued  along  the  line  he  started,  might 
have  caused  disaster.  Fortunately  there  was  such  an 
outburst  of  protest  in  the  country  that  our  allies  took 
part  and  President  Wilson  himself  took  warning. 
President  Wilson  may  still  serve  as  a  channel  of 
Communication.  But  General  Foch  will  be  the  real 


PEACE  253 

master  of  the  situation.  The  men  with  guns  and  not 
the  men  with  fountain  pens  will  dictate  the  terms. 


PEACE 

NOVEMBER  12,  1918 

FOUR  years  and  a  quarter  have  passed  since  Ger 
many,  by  the  invasion  of  Belgium,  began  the  World 
War  and  made  it  at  the  same  time  a  war  of  cynical 
treachery  and  of  bestiality  and  of  inhuman  wrong 
doing.  Almost  from  the  beginning  our  governmental 
authorities  were  well  informed  of  the  organized 
brutality  with  which  it  was  waged  and  of  the  fact 
that  the  Kaiser  and  the  leading  soldiers,  politicians, 
and  commercial  magnates  of  Germany  had  deliber 
ately  plunged  the  world  into  war  because  they  ex 
pected  to  profit  by  conquest,  while  the  Socialist 
Party  aided  and  abetted  them  in  the  hope  of  sharing 
some  of  the  profit. 

The  rest  of  us  ordinary  Americans  were  success 
fully  hoodwinked  because  the  facts  were  concealed 
from  us.  But  gradually  the  truth  leaked  through  to 
us.  First  we  learned  that  the  stories  of  the  atrocities 
were  true.  Then,  although  not  until  much  later,  we 
found  out  that  there  was  ample  proof  that  Germany 
had  brought  on  the  war  to  gratify  her  greed  for  gold 
and  her  arrogant  and  conscienceless  lust  for  world 
domination.  Finally  we  were  permitted  to  learn  that 
Germany  intended  to  strike  us  down  as  soon  as  she 
had  made  the  free  nations  her  victims.  Now  our 


254  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

troops  have  played  a  manful  part,  a  part  not  only 
heroic  and  efficient,  but  also  of  decisive  consequence 
in  the  final  terrible  struggle. 

It  is  not  pleasant  to  think  that  the  two  first 
crushing  blows  in  bringing  about  the  end,  the  over 
throw  of  Bulgaria  and  the  overthrow  of  Turkey, 
were  due  in  no  way  to  us,  but  solely  to  our  allies, 
England  and  France.  We  never  made  war  on  either 
offending  nation;  we  remained  neutral,  and  this  ex 
hibition  of  feeble  diplomacy  on  our  part  made  us 
onlookers  instead  of  partakers  of  the  triumph.  But 
with  Austria,  after  much  hesitation  and  wabbling, 
we  did  finally  go  to  war,  and,  although  our  part  was 
very  small,  we  have  a  modest  right  to  share  the 
general  satisfaction  over  the  victory.  In  the  case  of 
Germany,  however,  we  played  a  really  great  part, 
and  although  until  the  very  end  we  were  unable  to 
put  on  the  fighting  line  any  tanks  or  field  guns  or 
battle  planes,  and  relatively  only  a  small  number  of 
machine  guns  and  bombing  and  observation  planes, 
our  soldiers  themselves  were  probably  on  the  average 
the  finest  troops  who  fought  in  Europe. 

And  now  the  German  imperial  military  and  cap 
italistic  authority  has  been  beaten  to  its  knees  and 
forced  to  accept  all  the  terms  the  Allies  have  imposed 
upon  it.  The  able  and  wicked  men  who  thought  to 
wade  through  a  sea  of  blood  to  world  domination 
must  now  bow  their  heads  before  the  outside  peoples 
whom  they  have  so  cruelly  wronged  and  face  the 
sullen  distrust  and  hostility  of  their  own  people, 
whom  they  misled  by  promising  them  a  share  in  the 


SACRIFICE  ON  COLD  ALTARS          255 

profits  of  successful  guilt.  Their  doom  has  come 
upon  them. 

A  little  over  a  month  ago  the  Administration  em 
barked  upon  a  career  of  note-writing  with  Germany, 
which,  if  unchecked,  might  have  meant  a  peace  of 
practical  profit  to  Germany.  But  the  feeling  of  the 
American  people,  especially  in  the  West,  showed  it 
self  in  such  direct  and  straightforward  fashion  that 
this  effort  was  soon  abandoned.  Moreover,  at  the 
recent  election,  the  American  people,  with  the  issue 
squarely  before  them,  declared  that  they  were  the 
masters  of  their  public  servants  and  not  rubber 
stamps,  and  that  this  was  the  people's  war  and  not 
the  war  of  any  one  man  or  any  one  party,  and  that 
loyalty  to  ourselves  and  our  allies  stood  ahead  of  ad 
herence  to  any  man.  Germany  has  been  beaten 
down  abroad  and  at  home.  The  pro-Germans  and 
the  pacifists  and  the  defeatists  and  the  Germanized 
Socialists,  and  all  the  crew  who  stand  for  any  form 
of  either  Bolshevism  or  Kaiserism,  have  been  warned 
that  they  shall  not  betray  this  Nation. 

SACRIFICE  ON  COLD  ALTARS 

NOVEMBER  13,  1918 

A  FRIEND,  a  California  woman,  writes  me  that  there 
is  staying  with  her  a  widow  whose  only  son  has  been 
in  the  navy  and  has  just  died  of  influenza,  and  that 
the  mother  said: 

I  gave  my  boy  proudly  to  my  country.  I  never  held  him 
back,  even  in  my  heart.  But  if  only  he  had  died  with  a  gun 


256  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

in  his  hand  —  a  little  glory  for  him  and  a  thought  for  me  that 
my  sacrifice  had  not  been  useless. 

My  correspondent  continues: 

There  must  be  so  many  mothers  who  feel  that  they  have 
laid  their  sacrifice  on  cold  altars.  You  have  written  much 
that  will  comfort  the  mothers  whose  sons  have  paid  with 
their  bodies  in  battle.  Is  n't  there  something  you  can  say  to 
help  these  other  mothers? 

I  felt  a  real  pang  when  I  received  this  letter,  be 
cause  the  thought  suggested  had  been  in  my  mind, 
and  yet  I  had  failed  to  express  it.  It  had  happened 
that  my  own  sons  and  nephews  and  young  cousins 
and  their  close  friends  were  where  death  or  wounds 
came  to  them  on  the  field  of  action.  For  example,  on 
the  day  I  received  this  letter  we  also  got  news  that 
the  closest  school  and  college  and  army  friend  of  my 
son,  Quentin,  who  was  killed,  had  himself  just  been 
killed.  He  was  a  man  who  had  been  promoted  for  a 
series  of  hazardous  and  successful  battles  with  Ger 
man  airmen.  He  was  as  gentle  and  clean  and  lovable 
as  a  girl,  yet  terrible  in  his  battle,  and  no  more  high 
and  fearless  soul  ever  fronted  death  joyously  in  the 
high  heavens.  My  mind  had,  because  of  facts  like 
this,  turned  toward  the  deaths  of  the  men  on  the 
firing  line;  and  I  regret  that  I  did  not  make  it  evi 
dent  as  I  meant  to  make  it,  and  but  for  this  over 
sight  would  have  made  it,  that  all  who  have  given 
their  lives  or  the  lives  dearest  to  them  in  this  war 
stand  on  an  exact  level  of  service  and  sacrifice  and 
honor  and  glory. 

The  men  who  have  died  of  pneumonia  or  fever  in 


SACRIFICE  ON  COLD  ALTARS          257 

the  hospitals,  the  men  who  have  been  killed  in  acci 
dents  on  the  airplane  training  fields  are  as  much 
heroes  as  those  who  were  killed  at  the  front,  and 
their  shining  souls  shall  hereafter  light  up  all  to  a 
clearer  and  greater  view  of  the  duties  of  life.  The 
war  is  over  now.  The  time  of  frightful  losses  among 
the  men  at  the  front  and  of  heartbreaking  anxiety 
for  their  mothers  and  wives,  their  sisters  and  sweet 
hearts  at  home  has  passed.  No  great  triumph  is  ever 
won  save  by  the  payment  of  the  necessary  cost.  All 
of  us  who  have  stayed  at  home  and  all  the  others  who 
have  returned  safe  will,  as  long  as  life  shall  last, 
think  of  the  men  who  died  as  having  purchased  for 
us  and  for  our  children's  children,  as  long  as  this 
country  shall  last,  a  heritage  so  precious  that  even 
their  precious  blood  was  not  too  great  a  price  to  pay. 
Whether  they  fell  in  battle  or  how  they  died  matters 
not  at  all,  and  it  matters  not  what  they  were  doing 
as  long  as,  high  of  soul,  they  were  doing  their  duty 
with  all  the  strength  and  fervor  of  their  natures. 
The  mother  or  the  wife  whose  son  or  husband  has 
died,  whether  in  battle  or  by  fever  or  in  the  accident 
inevitable  in  hurriedly  preparing  a  modern  army  for 
war,  must  never  feel  that  the  sacrifice  has  been  laid 
"  on  a  cold  altar."  There  is  no  gradation  of  honor 
among  these  gallant  men  and  no  essential  gradation 
of  service.  They  all  died  that  we  might  live;  our 
debt  is  to  all  of  them,  and  we  can  pay  it  even  person 
ally  only  by  striving  so  to  live  as  to  bring  a  little 
nearer  the  day  when  justice  and  mercy  shall  rule  in 
our  own  homes  and  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 


258  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

THE  RED  FLAG  AND  THE  HUN 
PEACE  DRIVE 
NOVEMBER  14,  1918 

THE  war  is  won.  A  twofold  duty  is  now  incumbent 
on  us.  We  must  strive  to  make  the  peace  one  of 
justice  and  righteousness  and  to  throw  out  such  safe 
guards  around  it  as  will  give  us  the  greatest  possi 
ble  chance  of  permanency.  Then  we  must  turn  to 
setting  aright  the  affairs  of  our  own  household. 
But  before  we  set  ourselves  to  the  performance  of 
these  two  tasks  we  should  thoroughly  enlighten 
our  enemies  at  home  and  abroad  on  one  or  two 
points. 

Let  all  anti-Americans  stand  aside.  Let  them 
understand  that  we  are  not  merely  against  some 
enemies  of  the  country  —  we  are  against  all  enemies 
of  the  country.  This  week  in  New  York  there  was  a 
red  flag  of  Anarchy  or  Socialistic  meeting  which  was 
the  cause  of  a  riot.  It  was  perfectly  natural  that  it 
should  be  the  cause  of  a  riot.  The  red  flag  is  as  much 
an  enemy  as  the  flag  of  the  Hohenzollerns.  The 
internationalist  of  the  red  flag  or  black  flag  type  is  an 
enemy  to  this  Nation  just  exactly  as  much  as  Hin- 
denburg  or  Ludendorff  was  an  enemy  only  a  week 
ago.  He  is  an  even  more  treacherous  enemy  and 
equally  brutal.  Congress  should  pass  a  law  without 
waiting  a  day  prohibiting  the  use  of  the  red  flag  or 
the  black  flag  or  any  other  flag  of  the  kind  here  in 
America.  We  have  universal  suffrage  in  America. 


THE  RED  FLAG  259 

The  majority  of  our  people  can  have  what  they 
wish  in  the  way  of  industrial  and  political  change,  if 
they  seriously  desire  it.  There  is  n't  any  excuse  in 
this  country  for  any  paltering  with  revolutionary 
movements.  A  riot  is  riot,  without  reference  to 
what  the  people  rioting  claim  to  be  for.  When  a  mob 
gets  started,  it  always  acts  the  same  way,  no  matter 
what  the  theoretical  cause  of  the  outbreak  may  have 
been.  A  Bolshevist  mob  in  New  York  in  all  essen 
tials  resembles  the  anti-draft  mob  of  1863,  although 
the  arguments  of  the  parlor  Bolsheviki  of  to-day 
would  be  totally  different  from  those  of  the  consti 
tutional  copperheads  of  fifty-five  years  ago. 

When  the  Romanoffs  were  overthrown  the  Rus 
sian  people  lacked  self-control  and  they  permitted 
the  dominion  of  a  Bolshevist  gang,  which  has 
brought  wholesale  robbery,  murder,  and  starvation 
in  its  trail.  The  overthrow  of  the  Hohenzollerns  in 
Germany  has  been  accompanied  by  Bolshevist  up 
rising  in  that  country  also.  There  is  some  excuse  for 
excesses  in  a  revolution  against  a  despotism,  but  in 
this  country  there  is  no  more  excuse  for  Bolshevism 
in  any  form  than  there  is  for  despotism  itself.  Any 
foreign-born  man  who  parades  with  or  backs  up  a 
red  flag  or  black  flag  organization  ought  to  be  in 
stantly  deported  to  the  country  from  which  he  came. 
Appropriate  punishment  should  be  devised  for  the 
even  more  guilty  native-born. 

Our  National  Government  should  take  the  most 
vigorous  action  and  have  it  understood  that  Amer 
ica  is  a  bulwark  of  order  no  less  than  of  liberty. 


26o  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

We  must  make  it  evident  that  we  will  stamp  out 
Bolshevism  within  our  borders  just  as  quickly  as 
Kaiserism. 

Moreover,  let  us  realize  the  nonsense  of  the  pre 
tense  that  the  German  people  have  not  been  behind 
the  German  Government.  They  were  behind  their 
Government  with  hearty  enthusiasm  until  the  Gov 
ernment  was  smashed  by  the  military  powers  of 
General  Foch.  The  effort  now  being  made  by  the 
German  Government  to  bring  dissensions  between 
the  Allies  by  appealing  to  the  United  States  against 
the  Allies  proper  should  be  spurned  by  our  Govern 
ment.  The  French,  English,  Italians,  and  Belgians 
have  been  fighting  side  by  side  with  our  men  under 
Foch.  They  have  acted  as  comrades  under  Foch,  and 
we  could  not  have  done  anything  if  we  had  not  acted 
as  comrades  like  the  rest.  Now  let 's  play  the  game 
when  the  effort  is  made  to  divide  us  by  the  German 
peace  drive. 

Senator  Poindexter  was  entirely  right  in  his  pro 
posed  bill.  The  United  States  must  make  absolutely 
common  cause  writh  the  Allies.  We  regret  that  the 
German  and  Russian  people  should  suffer;  the  fault 
lies  solely  with  the  past  or  present  governments.  To 
the  very  minute  of  the  closing  of  the  war  the  hideous 
German  brutalities  continued  unabated,  and  ap 
parently  the  Turks  are  still  slaughtering  Armenians. 
We  will  do  our  best  to  help  even  our  enemies  now 
that  they  have  been  stricken  down,  but  we  will  not 
do  so  at  the  cost  of  doing  injustice  to  our  friends. 
We  will  not  permit  Hun  hypocrisy  to  succeed  where 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  261 

Hun  violence  has  failed.  And  we  are  equally  un 
compromising  foes  of  Bolshevism  and  Kaiserism  at 
home  and  abroad. 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 
NOVEMBER  17,  1918 

THERE  are  so  many  prior  things  to  do  and  so  much 
uncertainty  as  to  the  form  of  agreement  for  perma 
nently  increasing  the  chances  of  peace  that  it  is 
difficult  to  do  more  than  make  a  general  statement  as 
to  what  is  desirable  and  possibly  feasible  in  the 
league  of  nations  plan.  It  would  certainly  be  folly 
to  discuss  it  overmuch  until  some  of  the  existing  ob 
stacles  to  peace  are  overcome.  That  such  discussion 
may  be  not  futile,  but  mischievous,  has  been  vividly 
shown  in  the  last  six  weeks.  During  the  first  week  of 
October  President  Wilson  and  Germany  agreed  on 
the  famous  fourteen  points  of  Mr.  Wilson's  as  a  basis 
for  peace.  But  this  agreement  amounted  to  nothing 
whatever  except  for  a  moment  it  gave  Germany  the 
hope  that  she  could  escape  disaster  by  a  negotiated 
peace.  The  emphatic  protest  of  our  own  people 
caused  this  hope  to  vanish,  and  just  five  weeks  later 
peace  came,  not  on  Mr.  Wilson's  fourteen  points, 
but  on  General  Foch's  twenty-odd  points,  which  had 
all  the  directness,  the  straightforwardness,  and  the 
unequivocal  clearness  which  the  fourteen  points 
strikingly  lacked. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  well  to  begin  considering  now 


262  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

the  things  which  we  think  can  be  done  and  the  things 
that  we  think  cannot  be  done  in  making  a  league  of 
nations.  In  the  first  place,  we  ought  to  realize  that 
the  population  of  the  world  clearly  understands  that 
in  this  war  they  have  been  involved  to  a  degree 
never  hitherto  known.  In  consequence  the  horror 
of  the  war  is  very  real,  and  people  are  at  least  think 
ing  of  the  need  of  cooperation  with  much  greater 
fixity  of  purpose  and  of  understanding  than  ever 
before.  Of  course,  fundamentally  war  and  peace 
are  matters  of  the  heart  rather  than  of  organization, 
and  any  declaration  or  peace  league  which  represents 
the  high-flown  sentimentality  of  pacifists  and  doc 
trinaires  will  be  worse  than  useless;  but  if,  without 
in  the  smallest  degree  sacrificing  our  belief  in  a  sound 
and  intense  national  aim,  we  all  join  with  the  people 
of  England,  France,  and  Italy  and  with  the  people  in 
smaller  states  who  in  practice  show  themselves  able 
to  steer  equally  clear  of  Bolshevism  and  of  Kaiser- 
ism,  we  may  be  able  to  make  a  real  and  much-needed 
advance  in  the  international  organization.  The 
United  States  cannot  again  completely  withdraw 
into  its  shell.  We  need  not  mix  in  all  European 
quarrels  nor  assume  all  spheres  of  interest  every 
where  to  be  ours,  but  we  ought  to  join  with  the  other 
civilized  nations  of  the  world  in  some  scheme  that 
in  a  time  of  great  stress  would  offer  a  likelihood  of 
obtaining  just  settlements  that  will  avert  war. 

Therefore,  in  my  judgment,  the  United  States  at 
the  peace  conference  ought  to  be  able  to  cooperate 
effectively  with  the  British  and  French  and  Italian 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  263 

Governments  to  support  a  practical  and  effective 
plan  which  won't  attempt  the  impossible,  but  which 
will  represent  a  real  step  forward. 

Probably  the  first  essential  would  be  to  limit  the 
league  at  the  outset  to  the  Allies,  to  the  peoples  with 
whom  we  have  been  operating  and  with  whom  we  are 
certain  we  can  cooperate  in  the  future.  Neither  Tur 
key  nor  Austria  need  now  be  considered  as  regards 
such  a  league,  and  we  should  clearly  understand  that 
Bolshevist  Russia  is,  and  that  Bolshevist  Germany 
would  be,  as  undesirable  in  such  a  league  as  the  Ger 
many  and  Russia  of  the  Hohenzollerns  and  Roman 
offs.  Bolshevism  is  just  as  much  an  international 
menace  as  Kaiserism.  Until  Germany  and  Russia 
have  proved  by  a  course  of  conduct  extending  over 
years  that  they  are  capable  of  entering  such  a  league 
in  good  faith,  so  that  we  can  count  upon  their  fulfill 
ing  their  duties  in  it,  it  would  be  merely  foolish  to 
take  them  in. 

The  league,  therefore,  would  have  to  be  based  on 
the  combination  among  the  Allies  of  the  present  war 
—  together  with  any  peoples  like  the  Czecho-Slo- 
vaks,  who  have  shown  that  they  are  fully  entitled  to 
enter  into  such  a  league  if  they  desire  to  do  so.  Each 
nation  should  absolutely  reserve  to  itself  its  right  to 
establish  its  own  tariff  and  general  economic  policy, 
and  absolutely  ought  to  control  such  vital  questions 
as  immigration  and  citizenship  and  the  form  of 
government  it  prefers.  Then  it  would  probably  be 
best  for  certain  spheres  of  interest  to  be  reserved  to 
each  nation  or  a  group  of  nations. 


264  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

The  northernmost  portion  of  South  America  and 
Mexico  and  Central  America,  all  of  them  fronting 
on  the  Panama  Canal,  have  a  special  interest  to  the 
United  States,  more  interest  than  they  can  have  for 
any  European  or  Asiatic  power.  The  general  con 
duct  of  Eastern  Asiatic  policy  bears  a  most  close  rela 
tionship  to  Japan.  The  same  thing  is  true  as  regards 
other  nations  and  certain  of  the  peculiarly  African 
and  European  questions.  Everything  outside  of 
what  is  thus  reserved,  which  affects  any  two  mem 
bers  of  the  league  or  affects  one  member  of  the  league 
and  outsiders,  should  be  decided  by  some  species  of 
court,  and  all  the  people  of  the  league  should  guar 
antee  to  use  their  whole  strength  in  enforcing  the 
decision. 

This,  of  course,  means  that  all  the  free  peoples 
must  keep  reasonably  prepared  for  defense  and  for 
helping  well-behaved  nations  against  the  nations  or 
hordes  which  represent  despotism,  barbarism,  and 
anarchy.  As  far  as  the  United  States  is  concerned,  I 
believe  we  should  keep  our  navy  to  the  highest  pos 
sible  point  of  efficiency  and  have  it  second  in  size  to 
that  of  Great  Britain  alone,  and  we  should  then  have 
universal  obligatory  military  training  for  all  our 
young  men  for  a  period  of,  say,  nine  months  during 
some  one  year  between  the  ages  of  nineteen  and 
twenty-three  inclusive.  This  would  not  represent 
militarism,  but  an  antidote  against  militarism.  It 
would  not  represent  a  great  expense.  On  the  con 
trary,  it  would  mean  to  give  to  every  citizen  of  our 
country  an  education  which  would  fit  him  to  do  his 


AN  AMERICAN  CONGRESS  265 

work  as  a  citizen  as  no  other  type  of  education 
could. 

There  are  some  nations  with  which  there  would 
not  be  the  slightest  difficulty  in  going  much  further 
than  this.  The  time  has  now  come  when  it  would  be 
perfectly  safe  to  enter  into  universal  arbitration 
treaties  with  the  British  Empire,  for  example,  re 
serving  such  rights  only  as  Australia  and  Canada 
themselves  would  reserve  inside  the  British  Empire; 
but  there  are  a  number  of  outside  peoples  with 
whom  it  would  not  be  safe  to  go  much  further  than 
above  outlined.  If  we  only  made  this  one  kind  of 
agreement,  we  could  keep  it,  and  we  should  make  no 
agreement  that  we  would  not  and  could  not  keep. 
More  essential  than  anything  else  is  it  for  us  to 
remember  that  in  matters  of  this  kind  an  ounce  of 
practical  performance  is  worth  a  ton  of  windy  rhetor 
ical  promises. 


AN  AMERICAN   CONGRESS 
NOVEMBER  18,  1918 

THE  election  of  a  Republican  Congress  a  fortnight 
ago  was  first  and  foremost  a  victory  for  straight 
Americanism.  To  the  Republican  Party  it  repre 
sents  not  so  much  a  victory  as  an  opportunity.  To 
the  American  people,  including  not  only  Republicans 
and  independents,  but  all  patriotic  Democrats  who 
put  loyalty  to  the  Nation  above  servility  to  a  polit 
ical  leader,  the  victory  was  primarily  won  for 


266  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

straight-out  Americanism.  A  very  important  feature 
to  remember  is  that  this  victory  was  won  in  the 
West.  On  the  whole,  the  East  also  showed  gains, 
but  the  greatest  gains  were  in  the  West.  The  South, 
of  course,  and  most  unfortunately,  never  permits  its 
political  or  patriotic  convictions  to  alter  the  result  at 
the  ballot  box. 

Now  the  Westerners,  the  strong,  masterful,  self- 
reliant  men  who  won  such  exacting  victories  in  Kan 
sas,  Minnesota,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  and  South 
Dakota,  are  just  as  opposed  to  what  may  be  called 
Kaiserism  in  our  political  and  industrial  life  as  they 
are  to  Bolshevism.  I  firmly  believe  that  this  is  true 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Republican  Party  every 
where.  They  have  n't  the  slightest  patience  with 
Townleyism  in  agricultural  districts  or  I.W.W.-ism 
in  labor  circles.  But  resolutely  they  intend  to  shape 
our  internal  policy  for  the  real  substantial  benefit  of 
the  average  man,  of  the  ninety  per  cent  of  our  people 
who  are  farmers,  working-men,  small  shopkeepers, 
doctors,  and  the  like.  They  have  n't  the  slightest 
patience  with  the  Bolshevist  desire  to  establish 
proletariat  class  tyranny,  which  is  just  as  odious  as 
aristocratic  class  tyranny.  They  have  n't  the  slight 
est  patience  in  persecution  of,  or  failure  generously  to 
reward,  the  man  who  by  nature  or  by  training  is  a 
leader  in  industrial  matters.  They  want  to  see  farm 
ing,  for  instance,  offer  a  chance  to  the  man  of  ability 
to  become  a  scientific  farmer  on  a  large  scale.  They 
wish  to  see  the  young  business  man  whose  leadership 
in  manufactures  or  commerce  is  of  incalculable 


AN  AMERICAN  CONGRESS  267 

worth  to  everybody  receive  in  generous  fashion  the 
big  reward  to  which  he  is  entitled. 

But  they  wish  to  do  all  this  as  an  incident  to  secur 
ing  not  only  this  right  to,  but  a  much  better  chance 
for,  the  average  man.  They  wish  the  tenant  farmer 
class  to  be  made  a  diminishing  instead  of  an  increas 
ing  class  so  that  tenant  farming  itself  may  not  be  a 
permanent  status,  but  a  step  toward  farm  ownership 
by  the  hired  man  or  the  son  of  the  small  farm  owner. 
They  wish  to  see  the  working-man,  and  especially 
the  working-man  in  such  huge  businesses  as  those 
connected  with  transportation,  steel  production, 
mining,  and  the  like,  become  not  a  mere  cog  in  an 
industrial  machine,  but  a  man  whose  self-respect  and 
reasonable  prosperity  are  guaranteed  if  the  business 
succeeds,  and  he  is  entitled  through  representation 
on  the  directory  to  have  his  voice  heard  at  the  coun 
cil  board  of  the  business,  even  although  at  first  and 
until  the  ability  to  use  power  is  slowly  developed  by 
the  habit  of  using  it,  the  control  may  have  to  do 
primarily  with  the  things  of  which  he  has  special 
knowledge  and  in  which  he  has  special  interest. 
Moreover,  there  are  plenty  of  great  natural  re 
sources,  such  as  water  power,  where  small  ownership 
cannot  provide  capital  for  the  development,  but 
where  the  outright  ownership  of  the  people  should 
not  be  disposed  of.  The  happy  line  must  be  struck 
between  the  all-pervading  straight  regimentation, 
which  would  be  as  deadening  as  paralysis,  and  the 
regimentation  of  mere  individualism.  The  Govern 
ment  must  exercise  control  in  a  spirit  of  justice  to 


268  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

all  concerned  and  with  a  stern  readiness  to  check  in 
justice  by  any  of  those  concerned. 

The  Republican  leadership  in  Congress  has  on 
the  whole  been  singularly  patriotic  and  singularly 
free  from  the  vice  of  mere  partisanship  during  the 
lifetime  of  the  present  Congress.  We  can  be  certain 
that  it  will  continue  to  be  so  in  the  new  Congress. 
In  the  future  as  in  the  past  the  President  can  count 
on  the  hearty  and  ungrudging  support  of  the  Repub 
lican  Party  at  every  point  where  he  is  endeavoring 
efficiently  and  in  good  faith  to  serve  the  interests  of 
the  Nation.    But  he  can  also  rest  assured  that  the 
Republican  Party  will  judge  its  duty  by  the  standard 
of  loyalty  to  the  country  and  will  scornfully  refuse 
to  adopt  that  extreme  baseness  of  attitude,  worthy 
only  of  slaves,  which  shrieks  that  we  must  stand 
by  the  Administration  whether  the  Administration 
is  right  or  wrong.   Moreover,  the  Republican  Party 
will  certainly  demand  to  have  an  accounting  of  some 
of  the  enormous  sums  of  money  that  have  been  ex 
pended  and  will  in  due  time  doubtless  demand  to 
know  what  explanation  there  is  of  the  Administra 
tion's  persistence  in  hidden  and  secret  diplomacy  in 
so  many  important  matters.   Every  question  will  be 
approached  from  the  standpoint  of  a  generous  desire, 
without  any  higgling  or  dealing  on  small  points,  to  do 
whatever  the  Administration  demands  that  is  proper 
and  to  give  it  a  full  chance  to  declare,  and  perhaps 
develop,  its  policy;  but  the  Republican  Congress 
will  understand  how  to  show  that  it  is  not  a  rubber- 
stamp  body,  but  an  integral  and  self-respecting  part 


THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  SEAS          269 

of  the  American  governmental  system,  wholly  and 
solely  responsible  to  the  American  people. 


THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  SEAS  AND  THE 

ENSLAVEMENT  OF  MANKIND 

NOVEMBER  22,  1918 

THE  surest  way  to  kill  a  great  cause  is  to  reduce  it  to 
a  hard-and-fast  formula  and  insist  upon  the  applica 
tion  of  the  formula  without  regard  to  actual  existing 
conditions. 

It  is  announced  in  the  press  that  the  President  is 
going  to  the  Peace  Conference  especially  to  insist, 
among  other  things,  on  that  one  of  his  fourteen 
points  dealing  with  the  so-called  "  freedom  of  the 
seas."  The  President's  position  in  the  matter  is,  of 
course,  eagerly  championed  by  Germany,  as  it  has 
been  Germany's  special  position  throughout  the 
war.  It  is,  of  course,  eagerly  championed  by  the 
New  York  World,  the  Hearst  papers,  and  all  the 
rubber-stamp  gentry.  It  is  antagonized  by  England 
and  France  and  by  every  anti-German  in  America 
who  understands  the  situation. 

It  is  utterly  impossible,  in  view  of  the  immense 
rapidity  of  the  change  in  modern  war  conditions,  to 
formulate  abstract  policies  about  such  matters  as 
contraband  and  blockades.  These  policies  must 
be  actually  tested  in  order  to  see  how  they  work. 
Both  England  and  the  United  States  have  reversed 
themselves  in  this  matter  on  several  different  occa- 


270  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

sions.  This  is  interesting  as  a  matter  of  history,  but 
from  no  other  standpoint.  If  we  are  honorable  and 
intelligent  we  will  follow  the  course  in  this  matter 
which,  under  existing  conditions  at  this  time,  seems 
most  likely  to  work  justice  in  the  immediate  future. 

Germany's  position  was  that  England  had  no 
right  to  blockade  her  so  as  to  cut  off  her  supplies 
from  the  outside  world.  President  Wilson  at  the 
time  accepted  this  view  and  talked  a  good  deal  about 
the  freedom  of  the  seas.  Meanwhile  Germany, 
through  her  submarines,  began  an  unprecedented 
course  of  wholesale  murder  on  the  seas.  President 
Wilson  protested  against  this  in  language  much  more 
apologetic  and  tender  than  he  had  used  in  protesting 
against  Great  Britain  blockading  Germany  in  what 
was  essentially  the  same  manner  in  which  we  block 
aded  the  South  during  the  Civil  War.  He  put  the 
dollar  above  the  man  and  incidentally  above  the 
women  and  the  children.  He  protested  more  vigor 
ously  upon  the  interference  with  American  goods 
than  against  the  taking  of  American  lives. 

Then  we  finally  went  to  war  with  Germany  our 
selves.  We  instantly  adopted  toward  Germany  and 
toward  neutrals  like  Holland  exactly  the  position 
which  President  Wilson  had  been  denouncing  Eng 
land  for  adopting  toward  Germany  and  toward  us. 
Our  action  in  this  case  was  quite  right,  whereas  our 
protest  against  England's  action  had  been  entirely 
wrong. 

President  Wilson  now  proposes  to  accept  the  Ger 
man  view  and  provide  a  system  which,  if  it  had  been 


THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  SEAS          271 

in  existence  in  1914,  would  have  meant  the  inev 
itable  and  rapid  triumph  of  Germany. 

If  this  particular  one  of  the  proposed  fourteen 
points  had  been  in  treaty  form  and  had  been  lived 
up  to  in  1914,  Germany  would  have  had  free  access 
to  the  outside  world.  England's  fleet  would  not  have 
enabled  her  to  bring  economic  pressure  to  bear  upon 
Germany  and  doubtless  Germany  would  have  won 
an  overwhelming  victory  within  a  couple  of  years. 
Therefore  Mr.  Wilson's  proposal  is  that  now,  when 
no  human  being  can  foretell  whether  Germany  will 
feel  chastened  and  morally  changed,  we  shall  take 
steps  which  will  mean  that  if  the  war  has  to  be  fought 
over  again,  Germany's  triumph  will  have  been  se 
cured  in  advance  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  secure  it. 
All  such  conditions,  all  merely  academic  questions  as 
to  the  attitude  of  America  or  of  England  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  Great  War,  are  insignificant. 
Whatever  our  views  prior  to  the  Great  War,  we  are 
fools,  indeed,  if  we  have  not  learned  the  lessons 
these  last  four  and  a  half  terrible  years  have  taught. 
The  freedom  of  the  seas  in  the  sense  used  by  Ger 
many  and  Mr.  Wilson  would  have  meant  the  en 
slavement  of  mankind  to  Germany.  It  would  have 
meant  that  this  country  would  at  this  time  either 
be  lying  prostrate  under  the  feet  of  German  invaders 
or  be  purchasing  peace  by  ransoms  heavier  than 
were  paid  by  Belgium.  No  patriotic  American  has 
the  right  to  stand  quiet  and  see  the  President  of  the 
country,  without  any  warrant  from  the  country,  try 
to  bring  upon  us  such  outrageous  potentiality  and 


272  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

disaster  as  would  be  implied  in  the  general  interna 
tional  adoption  of  the  so-called  "  freedom  of  the 
seas."  Such  freedom  of  the  seas  means  the  enslave 
ment  of  mankind. 


PRESIDENT  WILSON  AND  THE 
PEACE  CONFERENCE 

NOVEMBER  26,  1918 

No  public  end  of  any  kind  will  be  served  by  Presi 
dent  Wilson's  going  with  Mr.  Creel,  Mr.  House,  and 
his  other  personal  friends  to  the  Peace  Conference. 
Inasmuch  as  the  circumstances  of  his  going  are  so 
extraordinary,  and  as  there  is  some  possibility  of 
mischief  to  this  country  as  a  result,  there  are  certain 
facts  which  should  be  set  forth  so  clearly  that  there 
can  be  no  possibility  of  misunderstanding  either  by 
our  own  people,  by  our  allies,  or  by  our  beaten  ene 
mies,  or  by  Mr.  Wilson  himself. 

Ten  days  before  election  Mr.  Wilson  issued  an 
appeal  to  the  American  people  in  which  he  frankly 
abandoned  the  position  of  President  of  the  whole 
people;  assumed  the  position,  not  merely  of  party 
leader,  but  of  party  dictator,  and  appealed  to  the 
voters  as  such.  Most  of  Mr.  Wilson's  utterances  on 
public  questions  have  been  susceptible  to  at  least  two 
conflicting  interpretations.  But  on  this  question  he 
made  the  issue  absolutely  clear.  He  asked  that  the 
people  return  a  Democratic  majority  to  both  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  stated 


WILSON  AND  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  273 

that  the  Republican  leaders  were  pro-war,  but  that 
they  were  anti-Administration.  His  appeal  was  not 
merely  against  any  Republican  being  elected,  but 
against  any  Democrat  who  wished  to  retain  his  con 
science  in  his  own  keeping.  He  declared  himself 
explicitly  against  the  pro-war  Republicans.  He  de 
clared  explicitly  for  all  pro-Administration  Demo 
crats,  without  any  reference  as  to  whether  they  were 
pro-war  or  anti-war.  He  said  that  if  the  people 
approved  of  his  leadership  and  wished  him  to  con 
tinue  to  be  their  "  unembarrassed  spokesman  in 
affairs  at  home  and  abroad,  they  must  return  a 
Democratic  majority  to  both  the  Senate  and  the 
House  of  Representatives."  He  explicitly  stated 
that  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  the  return  of  a 
Republican  majority  to  either  House  of  Congress 
would  be  interpreted  as  a  repudiation  of  his  leader 
ship,  and  informed  his  fellow  countrymen  that  to 
elect  a  Democratic  majority  in  Congress  was  the 
only  way  to  sustain  him,  Mr.  Wilson. 

The  issue  was  perfectly,  clearly  drawn.  The 
Republican  Party  was  pro-war  and  anti-Administra 
tion,  the  Democratic  Party  was  officially  pro-Ad 
ministration  without  any  mind  or  conscience  of  its 
own  and  pro-war  or  anti-war  according  to  the  way 
in  which  Mr.  Wilson  changed  his  mind  overnight  or 
between  dawn  and  sunset.  The  Americans  refused  to 
sustain  Mr.  Wilson.  They  elected  a  heavily  Repub 
lican  House  and  to  the  surprise  of  every  one  carried  a 
majority  in  the  Senate.  On  Mr.  Wilson's  own  say-so 
they  repudiated  his  leadership.  In  no  other  free 


274  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

country  in  the  world  to-day  would  Mr.  Wilson  be  in 
office.  He  would  simply  be  a  private  citizen  like  the 
rest  of  us. 

Under  these  circumstances  our  allies  and  our 
enemies,  and  Mr.  Wilson  himself,  should  all  under 
stand  that  Mr.  Wilson  has  no  authority  whatever  to 
speak  for  the  American  people  at  this  time.  His 
leadership  has  just  been  emphatically  repudiated  by 
them.  The  newly  elected  Congress  comes  far  nearer 
than  Mr.  Wilson  to  having  a  right  to  speak  the  pur 
poses  of  the  American  people  at  this  moment.  Mr. 
Wilson  and  his  fourteen  points  and  his  four  supple 
mentary  points  and  his  five  complementary  points 
and  all  his  utterances  every  which  way  have  ceased 
to  have  any  shadow  of  right  to  be  accepted  as  ex 
pressive  of  the  will  of  the  American  people.  He  is 
President  of  the  United  States,  he  is  part  of  the 
treaty-making  power,  but  he  is  only  part.  If  he  acts 
in  good  faith  to  the  American  people,  he  will  not 
claim  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  any  representa 
tive  capacity  in  himself  to  speak  for  the  American 
people.  He  will  say  frankly  that  his  personal  leader 
ship  has  been  repudiated  and  that  he  now  has  merely 
the  divided  official  leadership  which  he  shares  with 
the  Senate.  If  he  will  in  good  faith  act  in  this  way 
all  good  citizens  in  good  faith  will  support  him, 
just  as  they  will  support  the  Senate  under  similar 
circumstances. 

But  there  is  n't  the  slightest  indication  that  he 
intends  so  to  act.  The  most  striking  manifestation 
of  his  purpose  is  that  he  sent  over  Mr.  Creel  and 


WILSON  AND  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  275 

sixteen  of  his  employees  who  are  officially  announced 
as  "  the  United  States  official  press  mission  to  the 
Peace  Conference,"  and,  with  more  self-satisfaction, 
the  committee  announces,  "  to  interpret  the  work  of 
the  Peace  Conference  by  keeping  up  world-wide 
propaganda  to  disseminate  American  accomplish 
ments  and  American  ideals."  At  the  same  time  Mr. 
Burleson  seized  the  cables  after  the  war  is  over  and 
when  there  can  be  no  possible  object  except  to  con 
trol  the  news  in  the  interest  of  President  Wilson  as 
Mr.  Burleson  and  Mr.  Creel  see  that  interest.  The 
action  of  the  Creel  "  official  press  "  would  really 
seem  more  like  an  excessively  bad  joke  if  it  were  n't 
so  serious.  But  during  the  war  the  Administration, 
often  incompetent  to  the  verge  of  impudence  in 
dealing  with  war  problems  and  with  the  Hun  within 
our  gates,  showed  itself  a  past-master  in  bullying, 
browbeating,  deceiving,  and  puzzling  our  own 
people.  It  is  utterly  impossible  that  the  Creel  "  offi 
cial  press  "  and  the  Burleson-owned  cables  can  have 
any  other  real  purpose  than  to  make  the  news  sent 
out  from  the  Peace  Conference,  both  to  ourselves, 
our  allies,  and  our  enemies,  what  they  desire  to  have 
told  from  their  own  standpoint  and  nothing  more. 
This  is  a  very  grave  offense  against  our  own 
people,  but  it  may  be  a  worse  offense  against  both 
our  allies  and  ourselves.  America  played  in  the  clos 
ing  months  of  the  war  a  gallant  part,  but  not  in  any 
way  the  leading  part,  and  she  played  this  part  only 
by  acting  in  strictest  agreement  with  our  allies  and 
under  the  joint  high  command.  She  should  take 


276  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

precisely  the  same  attitude  at  the  Peace  Conference. 
We  have  lost  in  this  war  about  two  hundred  and 
thirty-six  thousand  men  killed  and  wounded.  Eng 
land  and  France  have  lost  about  seven  million.  Italy 
and  Belgium  and  the  other  Allies  have  doubtless  lost 
three  million  more.  Of  the  terrible  sacrifice  which 
has  enabled  the  Allies  to  win  the  victory,  America 
has  contributed  just  about  two  per  cent.  At  the 
end,  I  personally  believe  that  our  intervention  was 
decisive  because  the  combatants  were  so  equally 
matched  and  were  so  weakened  by  the  terrible  strain 
that  our  money  and  our  enthusiasm  and  the  million 
fighting  men  whom  we  got  to  the  front,  even  al 
though  armed  substantially  with  nothing  but  French 
field  cannon,  tanks,  machine  guns,  and  airplanes, 
was  decisive  in  the  scale.  But  we  could  render  this 
decisive  aid  only  because  for  four  years  the  Allies,  in 
keeping  Germany  from  conquering  their  own  coun 
tries,  had  incidentally  kept  her  from  conquering 
ours. 

It  is  our  business  to  act  with  our  allies  and  to  show 
an  undivided  front  with  them  against  any  move  of 
our  late  enemies.  I  am  no  Utopian.  I  understand 
entirely  that  there  can  be  shifting  alliances,  I  under 
stand  entirely  that  twenty  years  hence  or  thirty 
years  hence  we  don't  know  what  combination  we 
may  have  to  face,  and  for  this  reason  I  wish  to  see 
us  preparing  our  own  strength  in  advance  and  trust 
to  nothing  but  our  own  strength  for  our  own  self- 
defense  as  our  permanent  policy.  But  in  the  present 
war  we  have  won  only  by  standing  shoulder  to 


THE  LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE  277 

shoulder  with  our  allies  and  presenting  an  undivided 
front  to  the  enemy.  It  is  our  business  to  show 
the  same  loyalty  and  good  faith  at  the  Peace  Con 
ference.  Let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  the  Ameri 
can  people  absolutely  stand  behind  France,  England, 
Italy,  Belgium,  and  the  other  Allies  at  the  Peace 
Conference,  just  as  she  has  stood  with  them  during 
the  last  eighteen  months  of  war.  Let  every  differ 
ence  of  opinion  be  settled  among  the  Allies  them 
selves  and  then  let  them  impose  their  common  will 
on  the  nations  responsible  for  the  hideous  disaster 
which  has  almost  wrecked  mankind. 


THE  LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE 

DECEMBER  2,  1918 

EX-AMBASSADOR  HARRY  WHITE  is  a  capital  ap 
pointee  for  the  Peace  Commission.  He  is  not  a 
Republican,  but  an  independent  in  politics  who  has 
worked  as  closely  with  Mr.  Cleveland  and  Mr.  Olney 
as  with  Mr.  McKinley  and  Mr.  Root. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  him  on  in  view  of  the 
exceedingly  loose  talk  about  the  League  of  Nations 
or  League  to  Enforce  Peace.  Fortunately  Mr.  Taft 
has  set  forth  the  proposal  for  such  a  league  under 
existing  conditions  with  such  wisdom  in  refusing  to 
let  adherence  to  the  principle  be  clouded  by  insist 
ence  upon  improper  or  unimportant  methods  of  en 
forcement  that  we  can  speak  of  the  League  as  a 
practical  matter.  I  think  that  most  of  our  people  are 


278  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  the  principle  of  such 
a  league  under  common-sense  conditions  which  will 
not  attempt  too  much  and  thereby  expose  the  move 
ment  to  the  absolute  certainty  of  ridicule  and  failure. 
There  must  be  an  honest  effort  to  eliminate  some  of 
the  causes  that  may  produce  future  wars  and  to 
minimize  the  area  of  such  wars. 

Mr.  Taft  explicitly  admits  and  insists  that  the 
League  is  to  be  a  supplement  to,  and  in  no  sense  a 
substitute  for,  the  duty  of  our  Nation  to  prepare  its 
own  strength  for  its  own  defense.  He  also  explicitly 
provides  that,  among  the  various  peoples  who  would 
not  be  admitted  to  the  League  on  an  equality  with 
the  others,  there  shall  be  different  spheres  of  interest 
assumed  by  the  different  powers  who  have  entered 
into  the  League.  For  example,  the  affairs  of  hither 
Asia,  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  of  North  Africa 
are  of  prime  concern  to  the  powers  of  Europe,  and 
the  United  States  should  be  under  no  covenant  to 
go  to  war  about  matters  in  which  its  people  have  no 
concern  and  probably  no  intelligent  interest.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  —  at  least  for 
all  America  between  the  equator  and  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  United  States  —  is  a  vital  point  of 
American  policy,  and  must  in  no  shape  or  way  be 
interfered  with.  We  do  not  interfere  with  existing 
conditions,  but  aside  from  these  no  European  or 
Asiatic  power  is  to  have  any  say-so  in  the  future 
of  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  the  lands  whose 
coasts  are  washed  by  the  Caribbean  Sea.  The 
Panama  Canal  must  not  be  internationalized.  It  is 


THE  LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE  279 

our  canal;  we  built  it;  we  fortified  it,  and  we  will 
protect  it,  and  we  will  not  permit  our  enemies  to 
use  it  in  war.  In  time  of  peace  all  nations  shall  use 
it  alike,  but  in  time  of  war  our  interest  at  once  be 
comes  dominant. 

Most  wisely  Mr.  Taft's  plan  reserves  for  each 
nation  certain  matters  of  such  vital  national  interest 
that  they  cannot  be  put  before  any  international 
tribunal.  This  country  must  settle  its  own  tariff  and 
industrial  policies,  and  the  question  of  admitting 
immigrants  to  work  or  to  citizenship,  and  all  similar 
matters,  the  exercise  of  which  was  claimed  as  a  right 
when  in  1776  we  became  an  independent  Nation. 
We  will  not  surrender  our  independence  to  a  league 
of  nations  any  more  than  to  a  single  nation.  More 
over,  no  international  court  must  be  entrusted  with 
the  decision  of  what  is  and  what  is  not  justiciable. 

In  the  articles  of  agreement  the  non- justiciable 
matters  should  be  as  sharply  defined  as  possible, 
and  until  some  better  plan  can  be  devised,  the  Na 
tion  itself  must  reserve  to  itself  the  right,  as  each 
case  arises,  to  say  what  these  matters  are. 

But  let  us  steadily  remember  that  before  dealing 
with  schemes  such  as  the  League  of  Nations,  which 
are  necessarily  more  or  less  visionary,  we  must  join 
in  good  faith  with  our  allies  in  securing  practical 
right  and  justice  at  the  Peace  Conference.  We 
should  treat  as  an  enemy  to  this  country  every  man 
who  at  this  time  seeks  directly  or  indirectly  to  stir  up 
dissension  between  us  and  England  or  France,  or  any 
other  of  our  allies.  Side  by  side  we  have  fought 


280  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

against  the  hideous  twin  terrors  of  Bolshevism  and 
Kaiserism  and  we  must  stand  undivided  at  the 
Peace  Conference.  What  the  distant  future  may 
hold  no  man  can  say,  and  this  is  the  very  reason  why 
I  insist  that  America  must  prepare  its  own  strength 
for  its  own  defense.  But  our  duty  at  the  moment  is 
clear.  We  have  fought  the  war  through  beside  the 
Allies  and  we  must  stand  with  them  with  hearty 
loyalty  throughout  the  peace  negotiations.  There 
must  be  no  division  in  the  face  of  our  enemies.  At 
the  very  close  of  the  war  we  played  an  honorable 
and  probably  decisive  part,  but  we  were  enabled  to 
do  so  only  because  for  the  four  preceding  years  Eng 
land  and  France  and  their  associates  in  defending 
their  own  rights  had  also  saved  us  from  destruction. 
Our  sacrifice  is  infinitesimal  compared  to  theirs.  We 
have  had  a  quarter  of  a  million  men  killed  and 
wounded;  England  has  had  over  three  million, 
France  nearly  four  million,  and  the  other  Allies 
during  their  time  of  warfare  against  the  common  foe 
suffered  in  proportion.  Our  loss  has  been  no  more 
than  one  or  two  per  cent  of  the  entire  loss  suffered  by 
the  Allied  armies  and  navies. 

The  immediate  cause  of  bringing  the  war  to  an  end 
was  the  forcing  of  unconditional  surrender  upon 
Bulgaria  and  Turkey,  with  whom  we  had  shamefully 
refused  to  go  to  war  at  all.  The  English  navy  pro 
tected  us  exactly  as  it  protected  Britain.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  behooves  us  to  remember  that 
while  we  at  the  very  end  did  our  duty,  yet  that  our 
comrades  in  arms  for  over  four  years  performed  in- 


MEN  WHOSE  LOT  HAS  BEEN  HARDEST    281 

calculable  feats  and  suffered  incalculable  losses  and 
won  the  right  of  gratitude  of  all  mankind.  The 
American  envoys  must  not  sit  at  the  peace  table 
as  umpires  between  the  Allies  and  the  conquered 
Central  Powers,  but  as  loyal  brothers  of  the  Allies,  as 
loyal  members  of  the  league  of  free  peoples,  which 
has  brought  about  peace  by  overthrowing  Turkey, 
Bulgaria,  and  Austria,  and  beating  Germany  to  her 
knees. 


THE  MEN  WHOSE  LOT  HAS  BEEN 
HARDEST 

DECEMBER  8,  1918 

THERE  recently  died  of  pneumonia  in  France  Major 
Willard  Straight,  of  the  American  army.  He  was 
above  the  draft  age,  he  was  a  man  of  large  and  many 
interests,  he  had  a  wife  and  three  children.  There 
was  every  excuse  for  him  not  to  have  gone  to  the 
front,  but  both  he  and  his  wife  had  in  their  souls  that 
touch  of  heroism  which  makes  it  impossible  for 
generous  natures  to  see  others  pay  with  their  bodies 
and  not  to  wish  to  do  so  themselves.  The  one  regret 
that  Major  Straight  felt  —  and  he  felt  it  most 
bitterly  —  was  that  he  had  not  been  able  in  spite  of 
all  his  efforts  to  get  to  the  actual  firing  front.  This 
failure  was  really  a  cause  of  great  anguish  of  soul 
to  him.  In  the  same  way  I  know  of  the  four  sons  of 
an  ex-Cabinet  officer,  all  of  whom  instantly  went  into 
the  army  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  Two  were 


282  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

at  the  fighting  front,  one  was  in  the  navy,  and  the 
other,  because  of  the  special  excellence  as  an  in 
structor,  was  kept  here,  and  the  gallant  young  fellow 
who  left  his  wife  and  baby  to  enlist  really  feels  as  if 
the  refusal  of  the  War  Department  to  permit  him  to 
go  where  he  could  be  shot  at  had  caused  a  blight  in 
his  life.  I  know  three  other  men  who,  because  of 
their  excellence,  were  kept  as  instructors  at  one  of 
our  camps,  whose  feelings  of  regret  are  so  bitter  that 
they  can  hardly  bear  to  look  at  their  uniforms  and 
the  sight  of  wounded  soldiers  causes  them  agonies  of 
thwarted  longing. 

All  this  is  most  natural,  and  just  what  we  should 
expect  from  high-minded,  gallant  fellows.  But  it  is 
entirely  unwarranted.  I  utterly  abhor  the  swivel- 
chair  slacker  who  got  some  safe  job  in  order  to  avoid 
doing  his  duty  at  the  front.  But  for  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  young  Americans  in  the  ranks  or  with 
commissions  who  did  everything  they  could  to  get 
in  the  firing  lines,  and  who  through  no  fault  of 
theirs  failed,  I  have  precisely  the  same  feeling  that  I 
have  for  the  men  who  took  part  in  the  most  danger 
ous  work.  General  Leonard  Wood,  in  his  recent 
capital  address,  has  taught  the  right  lesson  to  these 
men.  He  was  dismissing  to  their  homes  the  men 
whom  he  had  trained  with  his  usual,  extraordinary 
capacity  to  fit  them  for  work  overseas,  and  he  dwelt 
to  them  upon  the  fact  that  the  all-important  point 
was  that  they  should  remember  that  it  was  not  the 
position  they  achieved,  but  the  eager  readiness  to  do 
duty  in  whatever  position  they  were  given  that  really 


AMERICAN  COMMON  SENSE  283 

counted.  General  Wood  has  himself  been  treated 
with  the  most  cruel  injustice  in  this  war,  yet  he 
has  rendered  signal  service  in  bringing  before  Con 
gress  our  military  needs,  and,  above  all,  in  training 
scores  of  thousands  of  our  best  fighting  men.  When 
he  was  denied,  from  the  very  meanest  motives,  the 
chance  to  fill  a  distinguished  position,  instead  of 
sulking  he  devoted  all  of  his  energy  to  doing  the  best 
he  could  in  the  positions  to  which  he  was  assigned. 
In  consequence  he  comes  out  of  the  war  as  one  of 
those  who  most  materially  helped  to  win  it.  What  is 
true  of  him  in  a  big  place  is  true  of  every  other 
soldier,  whether  in  a  big  or  little  place.  The  hardest 
task  was  for  the  men  who  were  denied  the  chance  of 
glory,  and  if  they  did  this  hard  task  well  and  served 
faithfully  wherever  they  were  assigned,  they  have 
exactly  the  same  right  for  pride  in  their  participa 
tion  in  the  Great  War  as  any  of  the  gallant  fellows 
who  have  come  back  maimed  or  crippled  from  the 
front.  All  alike  have  made  the  rest  of  us  forever  their 
debtors,  and  to  all  alike  we  pay  the  same  meed  of 
loyal  admiration  and  respect. 


THE  BRITISH   NAVY,  THE  FRENCH 

ARMY,  AND  AMERICAN 

COMMON  SENSE 

DECEMBER  17,  1918 

THE  first  essential  in  an  alliance  is  loyalty.    The 
first  effort  of  an  enemy  to  an  alliance  is  to  produce 


284  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

disloyalty  to  one  another  among  the  Allies.  To  any 
man  who  knows  anything  of  history  these  facts  are 
of  bromidic  triteness.  But  the  Administration,  as 
usual,  stands  in  urgent  need  of  learning  the  elements 
of  fair  play  and  common  sense. 

It  was  announced  from  the  peace  ship  that  Presi 
dent  Wilson  was  going  to  work  for  the  reduction  of 
naval  armaments  and  for  a  form  of  naval  agreement 
which,  if  it  had  existed  four  years  ago,  would  have 
meant  Germany's  victory  and  the  subjugation  of  not 
only  Germany's  foes,  but  of  all  neutrals  like  our 
selves.  At  the  same  time  over  here  the  representa 
tives  of  the  Administration  are  demanding  a  navy 
bigger  than  that  of  Great  Britain.  The  only  possible 
interpretation  of  these  facts  is  that  the  Administra 
tion  proposes  to  threaten  Great  Britain  with  having 
to  get  in  a  neck-and-neck  competition  with  America 
to  build  the  greatest  navy  in  the  world,  and  to  do 
this  as  a  bluff  so  as  to  make  for  Great  Britain's  ad 
herence  to  Mr.  Wilson's  exceedingly  nebulous  ideas. 

Under  these  conditions  the  American  people 
should,  with  common  sense,  look  at  what  their  own 
needs  are  and  at  what  the  needs  of  their  allies  are. 
Sooner  or  later  any  programme  will  have  to  be  tested 
by  its  results,  and  even  if  the  United  States  started 
to  emulate  Great  Britain's  navy,  the  enthusiasm  to 
do  so  would  vanish  when  it  appeared  that  there  was 
no  earthly  interest  of  ours  to  be  served  by  the  action. 

In  winning  the  present  war  very  many  instru 
mentalities  have  been  necessary.  On  the  whole  the 
four  most  important  in  their  order  have  been:  (i) 


AMERICAN  COMMON  SENSE  285 

the  French  army;  (2)  the  British  navy;  (3)  the 
British  army;  (4)  the  Italian  army.  Our  own  gallant 
army  and  navy  did  exceedingly  well,  but  came  in  so 
late  that  the  part  they  played,  taking  the  four  and  a 
half  years  as  a  whole,  does  not  entitle  them  to  rank 
with  the  instrumentalities  given  above. 

Great  Britain  is  an  island,  separated  from  the  huge 
military  commonwealths  of  Europe  by  very  narrow 
seas,  and  separated  from  her  own  greatest  colonies 
by  all  the  greatest  oceans.  To  her,  supremacy  in  the 
navy  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  America  ought 
to  have  a  first-class  navy,  but  if  she  did  not  have 
a  ship  she  might  yet  secure  herself  from  any  inva 
sion.  But  Great  Britain's  empire  would  not  last  one 
week,  and  she  could  not  make  herself  safe  at  home 
one  week  if  her  navy  lost  its  supremacy.  Inciden 
tally  to  saving  herself,  the  British  navy  has  rendered 
incalculable  service  to  us  during  the  last  four  and 
one-half  years,  and  for  the  last  thirty  years  has  been 
a  shield  to  the  United  States.  Great  Britain  is  not  a 
military  power  in  the  sense  that  any  of  the  nations 
of  continental  Europe,  or  indeed  of  Asia,  are  military 
powers.  She  had  almost  as  much  difficulty  in  devel 
oping  her  army  in  this  war  as  we  had  in  developing 
our  army.  Her  army  is  no  more  of  a  threat  to  other 
peoples  than  ours  is.  Therefore,  we  Americans  find 
ourselves,  as  regards  the  British  navy,  in  this  posi 
tion,  that  it  is  of  vital  consequence  to  Great  Britain 
to  have  the  greatest  navy  in  the  world;  it  is  emphat 
ically  not  of  any  consequence  to  us  to  have  as  big  a 
navy  as  Great  Britain,  for  we  are  not  in  the  slightest 


286  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

danger  from  Great  Britain,  and  under  all  ordinary 
circumstances  the  British  navy  can  be  counted  upon 
as  a  help  to  the  United  States  and  never  as  a  menace. 
Under  such  circumstances  to  set  ourselves  to  work 
to  build  a  navy  in  rivalry  to  Great  Britain's,  and 
above  all  to  do  this  as  a  political  bluff,  is  worse  than 
silly. 

Our  own  navy  should  be  ample  to  protect  our  own 
coasts  and  to  maintain  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  There 
are  in  Europe  and  Asia  several  great  military  com 
monwealths,  each  one  of  which  will  in  all  probabil 
ity  always  possess  a  far  more  formidable  army  than 
ours,  even  though,  as  I  earnestly  hope,  we  adopt 
some  development  of  universal  military  training  on 
the  lines  of  the  Swiss  system.  Therefore,  it  is  of  the 
highest  consequence  that  our  navy  should  be  second 
to  that  of  Great  Britain. 

The  analogy  with  the  case  of  the  French  army  is 
complete.  If  the  French  army  had  not  been  able  to 
hold  the  German  army  and  be  the  chief  factor  in 
the  German  military  overthrow,  the  British  navy 
could  not  have  averted  Germany's  complete  victory. 
Great  Britain  is  separated  by  the  narrow  seas  from 
the  military  powers  of  continental  Europe.  We  are 
separated  from  them  by  the  width  of  the  ocean. 
Under  the  circumstances,  it  is  sheer  impertinence  for 
either  American  or  English  statesmen  to  tell  France, 
or,  for  that  matter  Italy,  what  ought  to  be  done  in 
abolishing  armaments  or  abandoning  universal  serv 
ice  or  anything  of  the  kind.  The  interest  of  France 
and  Italy  in  the  matter  is  vital.  The  interest  of 


STRAIGHTFORWARD  SPEAKING        287 

England  and  America  is  partly  secondary.  If  we 
have  well-thought-out  arguments  to  put  before  the 
French,  put  them  before  them,  but  treat  France  as 
having  the  vital  interest  in  the  matter,  and  therefore 
the  final  say-so  as  far  as  we  are  concerned.  And 
when  France  has  determined  what  the  needs  of  the 
future  demand,  so  far  as  her  military  preparedness 
is  concerned,  and  when  Italy  has  made  a  similar  de 
termination,  and  our  other  allies  likewise,  back  them 
up.  It  is  not  the  business  of  America  to  tell  Great 
Britain  what  she  should  do  with  her  navy.  It  is  not 
the  business  of  either  America  or  England  to  tell 
France  what  she  should  do  with  her  army.  The 
plain  American  common  sense  of  the  situation  is  that 
we  should  recognize  our  immense  debt  to  the  British 
navy  and  the  French  army,  and  stand  by  Britain  in 
what  she  decides  her  vital  needs  demand  so  far  as 
her  navy  is  concerned,  and  stand  by  France  in  the 
position  she  takes  as  to  what  the  situation  demands 
so  far  as  her  army  is  concerned. 


LET  US  HAVE  STRAIGHTFORWARD 

SPEAKING 
DECEMBER  24,  1918 

SENATOR  LODGE  in  his  admirable  speech  has  given 
the  reasons  why  at  least  five  of  the  famous  fourteen 
points  should  not  be  considered  in  the  peace  nego 
tiations  proper.  But  the  special  merit  of  Senator 
Lodge's  statement  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  straight- 


288  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

forward  and  clear.  There  is  no  need  of  a  key  to  find 
out  what  he  means.  The  men  who  represent,  or  as 
sume  to  represent,  the  United  States  at  the  Peace 
Conference,  should  be  equally  clear  with  our  allies 
and  our  enemies  and  also  with  the  American  people. 
Above  all  things  we  need  some  straightforward 
statement  as  to  just  what  is  proposed  and  as  to  just 
why  it  is  proposed. 

Take,  for  example,  the  very  extraordinary  conflict 
between  that  one  of  the  fourteen  points  in  which  the 
Administration  has  demanded  practically  complete 
disarmament  and  the  action  of  the  Administration 
at  the  same  moment  demanding  that  we  shall  build 
the  biggest  navy  in  the  world.  Either  one  course  or 
the  other  must  necessarily  be  improper.  In  such  a 
matter  we  especially  need  a  straightforward  state 
ment  of  reasons  and  principles. 

The  worst  thing  we  could  do  would  be  to  build  a 
spite  navy,  a  navy  built  not  to  meet  our  own  needs, 
but  to  spite  some  one  else.  I  am  speaking  purely  as 
an  American.  No  man  in  this  country  who  is  both 
intelligent  or  informed  has  the  slightest  fear  that 
Great  Britain  will  ever  invade  us  or  try  to  go  to  war 
with  us.  The  British  navy  is  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  a  menace  to  us.  I  can  go  a  little  further  than 
this.  There  is  in  Great  Britain  a  large  pacifist  and 
defeatist  party  which  behaves  exactly  like  our  own 
pacifists,  pro-Germans,  Germanized  Socialists,  de 
featists,  and  Bolsheviki.  If  this  party  had  its  way 
and  Great  Britain  abandoned  its  fleet,  I  should  feel, 
so  far  from  the  United  States  being  freed  from  the 


A  SQUARE  DEAL  289 

necessity  of  building  up  a  fleet,  that  it  behooved  us  to 
build  a  much  stronger  one  than  is  at  present  neces 
sary.  Our  need  is  not  as  great  as  that  of  the  vast 
scattered  British  Empire,  for  our  domains  are  pretty 
much  in  a  ring  fence.  We  ought  not  to  undertake  the 
task  of  policing  Europe,  Asia,  and  Northern  Africa. 
Neither  ought  we  to  permit  any  interference  with 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  or  any  attempt  by  Europe  or 
Asia  to  police  America.  Mexico  is  our  Balkan  Pen 
insula.  Some  day  we  will  have  to  deal  with  it.  All 
the  coasts  and  islands  which  in  any  way  approach 
the  Panama  Canal  must  be  dealt  with  by  this  Na 
tion,  and  by  this  Nation  alone,  in  accordance  with 
the  Monroe  Doctrine.  With  this  object  in  view  our 
navy  should  be  second  to  that  of  Great  Britain  and 
superior  to  that  of  any  other  power  —  and  if  Great 
Britain  chooses  to  abolish  its  navy  it  would  mean 
that  we  ought  to  build  a  larger  navy  than  is  now 
necessary. 


A  SQUARE   DEAL  FOR  THE  MEN 
AT  THE  FRONT 

DECEMBER  25,  1918 

WE  should  show  our  respect  for  the  men  at  the  front 
by  more  than  mere  adulation.  They  are  the  Ameri 
cans  who  have  done  most  and  suffered  most  for  this 
country.  It  was  announced  in  the  press  that  in  many 
cases  they  and  the  families  they  have  left  behind 
have  not  for  months  received  their  full  pay.  This  is 


290  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

an  outrage.  All  civil  officials  are  paid.  The  Secre 
tary  of  War  is  paid,  and  he  ought  not  to  touch  a 
dollar  of  his  salary  and  no  high  official  should  touch 
a  dollar  of  his  salary  until  the  enlisted  men  and 
junior  officers  are  paid  every  cent  that  is  owing  to 
them,  and  this  payment  should  be  prompt.  There  is 
literally  no  excuse  for  even  so  much  as  three  days' 
delay  in  the  payment. 

Moreover,  these  men,  at  great  cost  to  themselves 
in  paying  everything  including,  in  fifty  or  sixty 
thousand  cases,  their  lives,  have  gone  to  the  front  at 
a  wage  from  one  half  to  one  fifth  as  great  as  that 
their  companions  who  stayed  behind  have  received 
during  the  same  period.  They  enlisted  to  do  a  spe 
cific  job.  They  made  the  sacrifice  in  order  to  do  that 
job.  We  on  our  side  should  see  that  just  as  soon  as 
the  job  is  done  the  men  are  taken  home,  allowed  to 
leave  the  army,  and  begin  earning  their  livelihood 
and  take  care  of  the  wives  and  children  that  the 
married  ones  among  them  have  left  behind. 

Recently  in  the  public  press  there  have  appeared 
various  artless  and  chatty  statements  from  the 
State,  War/ and  Navy  departments  that  our  men 
might  be  kept  in  Europe  to  do  general  police  work 
and  might  not  be  brought  back  here  until  the 
summer  of  1920.  There  are  three  types  of  soldiers  on 
the  other  side.  There  are  the  Regular  Army  men, 
who  have  entered  the  Regular  Army  as  a  profession, 
and  to  whom  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference  whether 
they  stay  in  Europe,  come  back  here,  go  to  the 
Philippines,  or  do  anything  else.  That  is  a  small 


A  SQUARE  DEAL  291 

proportion  of  our  force  on  the  other  side.  The  bulk 
are  divided  between  volunteers,  who  enlisted  in  the 
National  Guard  or  sometimes  in  the  regular  regi 
ments  to  fight  this  war  through,  and  the  drafted  men 
who  were  put  into  the  army  under  a  law  designed  to 
meet  this  war  and  this  war  only.  Not  one  in  ten  of 
the  volunteers  would  have  dreamed  of  volunteering 
to  do  police  work  in  European  squabbles.  Not  ten 
Congressmen  would  have  voted  for  the  Draft  Law 
if  it  was  to  force  selective  men  to  do  police  duty  after 
the  war  was  over.  All  these  men  went  in  to  fight  this 
war  through  to  a  finish  and  then  to  come  home.  It 
is  not  a  square  deal  to  follow  any  other  course  as 
regards  them.  The  minute  that  peace  comes  every 
American  soldier  on  the  other  side  should  be  brought 
home  as  speedily  as  possible  save,  of  course,  the 
regulars  who  make  the  Regular  Army  their  life  pro 
fession,  and  any  other  man  who  chose  to  volunteer  to 
go  over,  or  who  can  with  entire  propriety  be  used  for 
gathering  up  the  loose  ends.  The  American  fighting 
man  at  the  front  has  given  this  country  a  square  deal 
during  the  war.  Now  let  the  country  give  him  a 
square  deal  by  letting  him  get  out  of  the  army  and  go 
to  his  home  as  soon  as  the  war  is  finished.  The  Red 
Cross  has  done  wonderful  work  in  taking  care  of  the 
dependents  of  these  men  pending  settlement  by  the 
Government,  but  the  Government  should  not  be 
content  to  rely  on  any  outside  organization  to  make 
up  its  own  shortcomings. 


292  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS1 
JANUARY  13,  1919 

IT  is,  of  course,  a  serious  misfortune  that  our  people 
are  not  getting  a  clear  idea  of  what  is  happening  on 
the  other  side.  For  the  moment  the  point  as  to 
which  we  are  foggy  is  the  League  of  Nations.  We  all 
of  us  earnestly  desire  such  a  league,  only  we  wish  to 
be  sure  that  it  will  help  and  not  hinder  the  cause  of 
world  peace  and  justice.  There  is  not  a  young  man 
in  this  country  who  has  fought,  or  an  old  man  who 
has  seen  those  dear  to  him  fight,  who  does  not  wish 
to  minimize  the  chance  of  future  war.  But  there  is 
not  a  man  of  sense  who  does  not  know  that  in  any 
such  movement  if  too  much  is  attempted  the  result 
is  either  failure  or  worse  than  failure. 

1  This  article  on  "  The  League  of  Nations  "  is  the  last  contribution 
that  Colonel  Roosevelt  prepared  for  The  Star.  It  was  dictated  at  his 
home  in  Oyster  Bay,  January  3,  the  Friday  before  his  death.  His 
secretary  expected  to  take  the  typed  copy  to  him  for  correction  Mon 
day.  Instead  she  was  called  on  the  telephone  early  Monday  morning 
and  told  of  his  death.  A  delay  of  several  days  naturally  ensued,  before 
the  editorial  reached  the  office  of  The  Star. 

In  view  of  the  immense  moment  of  the  issues  before  the  Peace 
Conference,  The  Star  had  asked  Colonel  Roosevelt  to  give  his  country 
men  the  benefit  of  his  discussion  of  the  possibilities  of  a  League  of 
Nations  as  a  preventive  of  war.  He  consented,  although,  as  he  wrote, 
he  expected  to  follow  this  editorial  with  one  "  on  what  I  regard  as 
infinitely  more  important,  namely,  our  business  to  prepare  for  our 
own  self-defense."  That  article,  however,  was  never  written. 

This  article,  then,  his  final  contribution  to  The  Star,  represents  his 
matured  judgment  based  on  protracted  discussion  and  correspondence. 
It  is  of  peculiar  importance  as  the  last  message  of  a  man  who,  above 
every  other  American  of  his  generation,  combined  high  patriotism, 
practical  sense,  and  a  positive  genius  for  international  relations. 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  293 

The  trouble  with  Mr.  Wilson's  utterances,  so  far 
as  they  are  reported,  and  the  utterances  of  ac 
quiescence  in  them  by  European  statesmen,  is  that 
they  are  still  absolutely  in  the  stage  of  rhetoric 
precisely  like  the  "  fourteen  points."  Some  of  the 
fourteen  points  will  probably  have  to  be  construed 
as  having  a  mischievous  significance,  a  smaller 
number  might  be  construed  as  being  harmless,  and 
one  or  two  even  as  beneficial,  but  nobody  knows 
what  Mr.  Wilson  really  means  by  them,  and  so  all 
talk  of  adopting  them  as  basis  for  a  peace  or  a  league 
is  nonsense  and,  if  the  talker  is  intelligent,  it  is  in 
sincere  nonsense  to  boot.  So  Mr.  Wilson's  recent 
utterances  give  us  absolutely  no  clue  as  to  whether 
he  really  intends  that  at  this  moment  we  shall  admit 
Germany,  Russia,  —  with  which,  incidentally,  we 
are  still  waging  war,  —  Turkey,  China,  and  Mexico 
into  the  League  on  full  equality  with  ourselves.  Mr. 
Taft  has  recently  defined  the  purposes  of  the  League 
and  the  limitations  under  which  it  would  act,  in  a 
way  that  enables  most  of  us  to  say  we  very  heartily 
agree  in  principle  with  his  theory  and  can,  without 
doubt,  come  to  an  agreement  on  specific  details. 

Would  it  not  be  well  to  begin  with  the  League 
which  we  actually  have  in  existence,  the  League  of  the 
Allies  who  have  fought  through  this  great  war?  Let 
us  at  the  peace  table  see  that  real  justice  is  done 
as  among  these  Allies,  and  that  while  the  sternest 
reparation  is  demanded  from  our  foes  for  such 
horrors  as  those  committed  in  Belgium,  Northern 
France,  Armenia,  and  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania, 


294  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  STAR 

nothing  should  be  done  in  the  spirit  of  mere  venge 
ance.  Then  let  us  agree  to  extend  the  privileges  of 
the  League,  as  rapidly  as  their  conduct  warrants  it, 
to  other  nations,  doubtless  discriminating  between 
those  who  would  have  a  guiding  part  in  the  League 
and  the  weak  nations  who  would  be  entitled  to  the 
privileges  of  membership,  but  who  would  not  be 
entitled  to  a  guiding  voice  in  the  councils.  Let  each 
nation  reserve  to  itself  and  for  its  own  decision,  and 
let  it  clearly  set  forth  questions  which  are  non- 
justiciable.'. 'Let  nothing  be  done  that  will  interfere 
with  our  preparing  for  our  own  defense  by  introduc 
ing  a  system  of  universal  obligatory  military  training 
modeled  on  the  Swiss  plan. 

Finally  make  it  perfectly  clear  that  we  do  not 
intend  to  take  a  position  of  international  Meddle 
some  Matty.  The  American  people  do  not  wish  to 
go  into  an  overseas  war  unless  for  a  very  great  cause 
and  where  the  issue  is  absolutely  plain.  Therefore, 
we  do  not  wish  to  undertake  the  responsibility  of 
sending  our  gallant  young  men  to  die  in  obscure 
fights  in  the  Balkans  or  in  Central  Europe,  or  in  a 
war  we  do  not  approve  of.  Moreover,  the  American 
people  do  not  intend  to  give  up  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine.  Let  civilized  Europe  and  Asia  introduce  some 
kind  of  police  system  in  the  weak  and  disorderly 
countries  at  their  thresholds.  But  let  the  United 
States  treat  Mexico  as  our  Balkan  Peninsula  and 
refuse  to  allow  European  or  Asiatic  powers  to  inter 
fere  on  this  continent  in  any  way  that  implies  per 
manent  or  semi-permanent  possession.  Every  one  of 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  295 

our  allies  will  with  delight  grant  this  request  if 
President  Wilson  chooses  to  make  it,  and  it  will  be  a 
great  misfortune  if  it  is  not  made. 

I  believe  that  such  an  effort  made  moderately  and 
sanely,  but  sincerely  and  with  utter  scorn  for  words 
that  are  not  made  good  by  deeds,  will  be  productive 
of  real  and  lasting  international  good. 


THE  END 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U  .  S.  A 


R: 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

i       SWJi^syS  SSXS.'SSSZK. 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 


MAY  2  2  1987 


LD2lA-60m-8,'70 
(N8837sl  0)476— A-32 


General  Librap^ 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


'C  51557 
BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


46342$) 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


*'• 


